


Born To Die

by softency



Series: Yesterday's Tomorrow [2]
Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Both Fics Can Stand Alone To An Extent And Be Read In Any Order, I Love This One More Than The Original Plz Share The Love w/ Me, M/M, Magic, Noble Park Jinyoung, Not Beta Read, Pirate Im Jaebum, Pirates, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Supernatural Elements, This Is A Prequel OK, Welcome To Fresh Served Hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:20:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22994599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softency/pseuds/softency
Summary: It took a few moments before Jaebum could calm down enough to speak again. “The ocean is what you have to worry about, it isn’t as safe as it tries to appear, but it won’t directly hurt you most times. The things independent from the sea are what you die from, they may still live in it, but they’re more aggressive.” Jaebum finally said, a soft chuckle still reverberating through his voice.“Did you just imply the sea is alive?!”Jaebum couldn’t stop the laugh from bubbling out of his throat again at Jinyoung's small panic."Yeah, she's very much alive."
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Series: Yesterday's Tomorrow [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1495964
Comments: 12
Kudos: 61





	Born To Die

**Author's Note:**

> this took 5 months to write on and off idk if I'm ready to release it into the wild but here's the prequel to [Silver Linings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777393)!  
> oof go easy on me I'm exhausted by now rereading this thing, hope you like it!  
> i'll probs be back in a few days to fully catch anything, but it just needs to be dropped rn lol
> 
> title is from Lana's [Born To Die](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bag1gUxuU0g) if you haven't heard it, that's the exact atmosphere I'm going for in this, check it out :)

**_“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”_ **

In front of him stood Mark and Youngjae, which wasn’t an odd pair to see handing around the docks together, but behind them was the most beautiful man Jaebum had seen to date.

They’ve got to be joking around. They should know Jaebum would reject it immediately.

“He’ll only be with us for at most a week, Jae. He will help us deliver the crates to the neighboring kingdom, they know of him and it’ll go over smoother if he’s there.” Mark reasoned, explaining it in a way that Jaebum wouldn’t be able to poke holes through and would have to work to keep saying no to the idea.

“We’re not a sightseeing ship, Yien, you should be thinking about everything this would take to bring him on board.” Jaebum argued, a small glare slipping onto his features, but Mark remained unfazed, used to Jaebum by now to not be intimidated by the ship captain in the slightest.

“I’ll take full responsibility for him, it isn’t that big of a deal.” He said, waving it off and walking around Jaebum and heading to board the ship, all of them are about to head on to set out for this job.

Jaebum watched him with an annoyed scowl before turning his attention to the man for the first time, raising a testing eyebrow at him. “You ever sailed, pretty boy?” He asked, watching the man who was in way too many layers already to be comfortable when they set sail. The man shook his head, but surprisingly met Jaebum’s eyes with no hesitation, holding his gaze confidently.

_Who the hell even was this guy?_

Jaebum grunted at that, not seeing any reason to continue speaking to him, and spun on his heel to follow the way that Mark had taken to board the boat.

Mark owed him big time for even considering going along with this.

Jaebum didn’t enjoy having innocent blood on his hands.

Jaebum found out later that night that the man’s name was Jinyoung, and he’d be bunking with Youngjae in the crew’s quarters.

In the makeshift dining area outside the kitchen, everyone sat around eating the soup their cook had fixed. It was one of the freshest meals they’ve had in a few months, so everyone was basically in their own little world and trying not to just scarf it down.

Jaebum only paid any attention to his surroundings when Youngjae suddenly plopped down in front of him to eat, their spot a ways away from everyone else.

“He’s not a bad kid, Jaebum.” Youngjae commented, and Jaebum rolled his eyes, not bothering to give the man the time of day for an actual reaction to that. “His name is Jinyoung, he’ll be staying with me. I’ll get him caught up as quickly as I can about everything he needs to know.”

That finally got Jaebum to look up.

“You better or I’m leaving all three of you at our next stop.”

The first few days went by with no incidents, finally concretely settling into their route for the trip.

That was until the fourth day.

Jaebum had just gotten out onto the deck after triple checking their maps to make sure everything was okay so far, still groggy with sleep.

The first thing he noticed was that most people must be below deck, because there were just a handful of men scattered around.

The second thing he noticed, however, was the man- _Jinyoung_ , was leaning over the railings and looking down into the sea.

Jaebum quickly made his way over, grabbing Jinyoung by the bicep and yanking him back roughly. 

_Won’t cause any trouble my ass._

“Don’t fucking do _that_.” Jaebum gritted out, dragging him across the deck and ignoring his words in protest to being manhandled. He brought him down to where they kept their supplies, finding Youngjae there like he’d expected to.

He shoved Jinyoung forward, ignoring the concern that had flared through him when he’d seen Jinyoung doing that just now.

“Youngjae, if I catch him breaking a rule again, he will be banned from setting a fucking _foot_ on deck until we dock.” Jaebum said as he spun around, not bothering to explain himself further.

He knew he was being harsh; he knew it, and even if he didn’t like it, it was the best way to get people to listen.

He couldn’t let someone like Jinyoung get dragged into the waters where Jaebum couldn’t follow.

So, he settled for playing the bad guy until Jinyoung learned better.

Jaebum hadn’t gone to sleep yet tonight, too busy trying to memorize the finishing route they would have to take through rocky waves to get to their destination.

So when he heard muffled yells from outside above the hammering of the rain, you could understand that he had to make sure his mind wasn’t just playing tricks on him.

But then he faintly heard the door separating the hallway to the crew’s quarters and the main deck open and close, and Jaebum was on his feet and running before he could even process it. 

It could only be one person naïve enough to go out at this time of night and in this weather.

Jaebum had to find him. Jinyoung wasn’t dead _yet_.

_“Jinyoung!”_ A voice called out through the dark as soon as Jaebum opened the wooden door, breaking through the commotion of the storm.

Jaebum’s blood ran cold as he desperately hurried to find Jinyoung, knowing all too well what was happening.

“Jaebum?” The man’s voice called out from Jaebum’s left, and he was in a full body panic by now. 

_No no no no no!_

_“Jinyoung! Are you okay?!”_ It called out again and suddenly he spotted movement near the side of the ship, bolting there the fastest he could move in the rain and wrapping up Jinyoung in his arms, pulling him back against his chest and firmly covering his mouth so the man couldn’t respond again.

_That was Jaebum’s voice._

“ _Do not_ respond to anything at night, that will _never_ be any of us calling for you.” Jaebum hissed quietly, his mouth just beside Jinyoung’s ear to keep as quiet as possible. “That isn’t me, I’m right here. Don’t make a sound because they’ve latched onto you now.”

Jinyoung was already shaking in his arms, and as Jaebum harshly scolded him, he trembled further.

“We’re going to head back, keep your eyes on your feet and hold on to me. The moment we move I won’t be speaking, don’t listen to the voice.” Jaebum instructed, waiting until Jinyoung nodded slightly before slacking his grip and allowing Jinyoung to move, hesitating a bit when Jinyoung moved behind him and pressed his forehead against his shoulder, lean arms wrapping tightly around his chest.

Jaebum moved, taking small steps so he wouldn’t fall from the wind or rain that made the wood of the ship hard to move across. After Jaebum moved them halfway to the entrance to the lower deck, the voice came again.

_“Jinyoung! Where are you? Don’t listen to anything he says!”_

Jinyoung’s arms tightened around his waist and he pressed further against Jaebum’s frame, the captain never stopping his slow progression to safety. He had to keep his eyes open for both their sake so he didn’t slip or run into anything and it was hard with all the rain to even see anything, so he was dancing with the devil right now.

 _“He is not the real one! Please don’t let them take you!”_ The voice begged, cracking near the end, and it made a hot anger course through Jaebum.

It only took a few more steps before he felt along the wall, finding the door frame he was looking for and yanking open the door, quickly moving inside as he heard a final, more desperate yell come from somewhere too close for Jaebum’s comfort. Once he shut it and bolted the deadlock, he pried Jinyoung’s arms off of him and moved him so he was in front of Jaebum, nudging him towards the ladder up to the captain’s quarters instead of the door to where he’d been sleeping with the ship’s crew.

Slowly, Jinyoung managed to get up the ladder and unlock the latch to push it open, climbing in when Jaebum hissed up at him to _‘fucking go’._

Once Jaebum saw that he was safe up there, Jaebum took his foot off the ladder and planted it firmly on the ground, catching how scared Jinyoung looked now that he realized Jaebum wasn’t coming up with him.

“Close and lock the hatch, Jinyoung. Slide the desk over on top of it and don’t open it no matter what until I knock twice.” Jaebum instructed, his eyes snapping back to the door as a wail broke out and echoed through the ship.

“No, come up here Jaebum-”

“Close the damn hatch, Park!” Jaebum barked, cutting him off and stepping away from the ladder toward where the crew was stationed as he saw Mark was already standing there with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

Once Jaebum watched the door shut, Jaebum let out a breath, his attention going back to the only door separating them from what was outside.

“I’ve never seen you go outside for someone like that.” Mark said in a soft voice, and Jaebum didn’t want to admit it, but it was true.

He’d never risked his own neck to save someone else from the sea before.

Only when the sun rose, and the rain stopped did Jaebum finally relax, both his and Mark’s backs pressed to the adjacent wall as that door. They’d camped out there all night, making sure it held as the only barrier that they had, ready to forcefully hold it closed if the latch didn’t save them.

“He spoke to them. It was my voice this time.” Jaebum admitted quietly, avoiding meeting Mark’s eyes.

No one on their ship had responded to one of those things and lived to tell the tale except Jaebum and Mark once before, and even then they just barely got out with their bodies intact. So when Mark’s breath hitched at that admission, Jaebum couldn’t blame him for what he was bound to say next.

“You’re an idiot, Im Jaebum. A total fucking _idiot_.” Mark hissed, and a soft laugh escaped Jaebum’s lips. “You did that knowing there was only a slim chance both of you would get out? And you sat here to protect that man?”

“I did.” Jaebum agreed, running a hand through his mess of hair. “I couldn’t let them take him, Mark. Just like I couldn’t let them take you.”

Mark just sighed and shook his head, scrubbing a hand over his face, visibly frustrated by how strong and persistent Jaebum’s moral compass was. “Go check on him.” Mark huffed out, groggily getting up and stretching out his stiff limbs. “I’ll go make sure nothing got broken last night during the storm and wake up the crew.” Jaebum watched him with an almost guilty look before nodding a bit, getting up from his spot. 

“They probably just beat the door, they’re not usually too violent.” He murmured, getting to his feet and groaning as his joints popped from staying on the floor all night. Mark nodded, unlocking the door to the main deck and Jaebum watched him disappear outside before moving on his own way and climbing up the ladder and eyeing the hatch, seeing that it appeared to be weighed down and Jinyoung must have thankfully listened to him. Jaebum knocked twice loudly on the door, waiting for a thirty seconds before huffing and knocking again. This time, soft footsteps moved across the floor above him and something was sliding roughly against the floor. A few seconds after the scraping noise stops, the hatch slowly unlocked and Jinyoung opened it with wide eyes.

_Had he been crying? Why were his eyes red?_

“Hey, I’m comin’ up.” Jaebum mumbled, and in a second Jinyoung disappeared from sight. Jaebum began climbing fully up the ladder and maneuvered his way naturally into the cabin.

Jinyoung was sitting on his bed with his knees pulled tight against his chest, watching Jaebum closely. He looked like he was terrified beyond what you could see from the surface, and thousands of questions were swirling in his eyes. Jaebum moved to shut the hatch, letting it fall into its spot and standing up, moving to sit on the bed with Jinyoung with a soft huff.

“You either listen to my warnings from now on or I will kick you off my ship and leave you on land.” Jaebum laid out, not playing around with things like this, even if it was Jinyoung, who had bypassed most of Jaebum’s rules and fussing in the past week after the first incident between them. “Both of us just barely got out of there last night, it was a miracle we made it back. One more second out there and we both would have been dead men.”

Jinyoung looked so scared and guilty, and Jaebum after a few seconds didn’t have the heart to keep fussing at him.

Jinyoung was shaking the slightest bit still, and Jaebum blanked, not knowing the best way to comfort anyone in this state, so he just opened his arms and murmured a small groggy ‘come here’. Youngjae liked to be held when he had intense anxiety, so maybe this would work for Jinyoung? It only took a few seconds for Jinyoung to practically leap into his lap, pressing himself tightly against Jaebum and wrapping his limbs around him like an octopus. His clothes were still wet, and in the back of Jaebum’s mind he reminded himself to grab both of them dry clothes soon before they both caught a cold from being drenched.

It stunned Jaebum for a few moments, his arms just hovering there for a beat before awkwardly wrapping his arms around Jinyoung’s waist. “You scared the hell out of me, you idiot.” Jaebum grumbled, one hand smoothing over the small of Jinyoung’s back and rubbing in small circles there. “We have our rules for a reason. I know Mark and Youngjae have told you about a lot of them. There are so many things to fear out here other than the weather and other ships, so, so many things.” Jaebum said, his voice quieting down, and he forced himself to relax so that maybe Jinyoung would feel more at ease.

“It was you.” Jinyoung murmured, a shake in his voice.

“I know, they do that to everyone to lure them to false safety.” Jaebum explained, but Jinyoung made a noise of objection.

“It was you. I thought you were dying. You kept begging for me to come help you because you couldn’t see through the storm and saying that someone was there trying to drag you over the railing.” Jinyoung explains, and Jaebum’s chest tightened.

They usually use an influential person in the victim’s life, one that they love in one way or another. For Mark, it was his mother every single time, never-changing. For Jaebum though, it switched through stealing Mark’s, Mark’s mother’s and his crew’s voice; but more often than not it took Mark’s. 

But for Jaebum to be Jinyoung’s? A captain he had never really had a full conversation with, never had the chance to form a strong bond? That was terrifying for Jaebum, because he’s never had anyone hear him in these situations. They had never stolen Jaebum’s voice before. Much less used it for someone that Jaebum barely knew.

“I don’t… I don’t know why it used me, they’ve never used me.” Jaebum said, his voice quiet from the shock of the actual details of the situation. “I’ll teach you about everything, I don’t want this to happen again. You will have to learn everything if you want to keep staying on my boat, a person will be with you at all times so nothing preys on you.” Jaebum instructed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I’ll take you out tonight if it’s safe.” He offered, finally fully relaxing against the touch. “It’s always better for new people to see it to believe how strange the ocean can get.”

“Is there a lot of other things that I must worry about?” Jinyoung asked, his voice stopping shaking by now. Jaebum nodded a bit, and Jinyoung grunted in a disappointed way that suddenly drew an unsuspected laugh from Jaebum, floored by that response.

It almost seemed like that small fact annoyed Jinyoung.

“Don’t laugh at me, this is all new.” Jinyoung just about whined, and that just made Jaebum’s laugh fully break out.

It took a few moments before Jaebum could calm down enough to speak again. “The ocean is what you have to worry about, it isn’t as safe as it tries to appear, but it won’t directly hurt you most times. The things independent from the sea are what you die from, they may still live in it, but they’re more aggressive.” Jaebum finally said, a soft chuckle still reverberating through his voice.

“Did you just imply the sea is _alive_?!”

Jaebum couldn’t stop the laugh from bubbling out of his throat again.

They went up onto the deck that night after everything had settled down and everyone was heading to bed, leaving just them out in the blanket of moonlight.

Jaebum led Jinyoung over to the railing and instructed him not to look anywhere except the railing yet, watching him carefully to make sure he was doing as told. Once they both stood still at the edge of the deck, Jaebum spoke again.

“Don’t question me okay?” Jaebum said, his voice melting away with the sound of the night wind and waves crashing against the hull. Jinyoung nodded, and Jaebum watched him for a few moments before continuing. “Tell the sea how beautiful she is, compliment her.”

Jinyoung paused at that, and he could tell he wanted to ask what the hell Jaebum was talking about.

“She’s waiting. She won’t wait all night for you- don’t look yet.”

Jinyoung visibly swallowed, and he let out a soft sigh. “You look beautiful tonight, the moon really makes you shine. I’ve seen nothing like you in my life.” Jinyoung got out, and Jaebum felt a grin tug at his lips as he gazed out to the open water.

He knew Jinyoung noticed something change the moment the words left his mouth, and Jaebum chuckled, looking back to the man. “She wants your attention now, look up Jinyoung.” Jaebum instructed, watching fondly as Jinyoung’s head quickly moved to look over the railing, stiffening up when he saw the reason Jaebum had been careful with all of this.

The ocean was glistening, every wave having an unnatural blue hue that was brighter than the moon would have caused. Whereas the waves had been sloshing and crashing against the hull moments before, they were now just gently swaying and lapping at the sides of the ship almost shyly. It was like the entire ocean was alive, and as every sailor knew, she was.

“Holy cow.” Jinyoung breathed, leaning over the railing to get a better look and Jaebum threw an arm out to push him back just as a teasing wave splashed up at them and fell right where Jinyoung’s face had been. “Is this what you were talking about?” He asked, and Jaebum nodded, a bright smile on his lips. 

“She’s the reason I keep sailing; sometimes she can’t control other things within her or how the waves sometimes try to push the boat back, but then there are times like this that make everything worth it.” Jaebum said, his voice giving away how in love he was with this side of sailing, the way everything came to life.

They stayed outside for a good hour, at one point Jaebum moved to stand a bit behind him and took Jinyoung’s hand in his own and reached over the railing, letting a wave rise and lap at their hands for a moment before taking them back. Jinyoung was in awe of everything, his eyes wide and almost glittering with excitement.

Jaebum hoped Jinyoung wouldn’t have to see the terrifying side of sailing with his own eyes, because he looked completely beautiful right now.

“C’mon, the moon is coming out from the clouds and it’ll hurt your eyes at night.” Jaebum urged, stepping away from the railing and smiling fondly as Jinyoung reached his hand over the railing one last time before he moved to leave the deck with Jaebum.

They made it inside with no interruptions, Jaebum moving to close and lock the door to the outside before making a noise in disapproval when Jinyoung headed to go join the men in the crew’s quarters.

“You’re sleeping with me. I thought that was obvious.” Jaebum says, like it was common sense, and Jinyoung’s eyes widened and he stopped moving. “You’ll be safer with me up there, c’mon.” Jaebum urges before heading to the ladder and climbing up, waiting for Jinyoung to get up before closing the hatch and bolting it.

Jaebum peeled off his shirt, moving to toss it over the chair pushed against his desk, not wanting to sleep in his shirt and get it sweaty since it was a rather warm night tonight. Once he turned around Jinyoung was standing frozen, eyes locked onto Jaebum’s chest.

_Well, that’s new._

“You haven’t seen me shirtless yet?” Jaebum asked, raising an eyebrow as he let out a laugh, a small grin tugging on his lips. He moves over to his bed- _their_ bed for the time being, and sits down, watching Jinyoung curiously. He’d be lying if he said Jinyoung had never attracted his attention in one way or another; whether it was how sharp he was, or how naïve he revealed himself to be.

Jinyoung shook his head, and Jaebum hummed softly, knowing that Jinyoung probably has never met someone with tattoos, much less the gold piercings he had threaded through him.

“I won’t bite you if you want to come closer, you know.” Jaebum teased, watching Jinyoung stiffen up and his ears turn a light shade of red at Jaebum’s jab. “Have you ever seen tattoos in person before?” Jaebum asked, patting the bed beside him as an invitation, and Jinyoung moved to sit there after what looked like a moment of internal debating.

“No.” Jinyoung quietly answered, dragging his eyes back up to Jaebum’s, curiosity and unspoken questions swirling together there and to Jaebum, that almost became hypnotic to have someone like Jinyoung’s attention on him in such a way.

Jaebum gave him a small smile as he let out a chuckle, getting up reluctantly and moving to blow out the lantern and settle into bed. Jinyoung didn’t move from his spot, sitting down on the edge of the bed until Jaebum urged him to, reluctantly maneuvering his way to the wall side of the bed and slipping under the covers with Jaebum.

It was quiet between them for a few minutes, both of them falling asleep, but just as Jaebum was about to fully slip under, he felt the bed move and recognized the small, light shivering coming from Jinyoung’s side.

Jaebum blanked for a moment, trying to figure out what to do in this situation to make Jinyoung feel better, but came up with no good ideas.

So, logically, he just did what his body was telling him to at that point.

“Hey, c’mere.” He urged, rolling over onto his side to face Jinyoung and finding him already looking at him with big, confused eyes. Jaebum held open his arms for the second time since he met Jinyoung, a soft, sleepy smile pulling on his lips. “If you’re cold you can steal some of my body heat for tonight.” Jaebum said simply, waiting rather impatiently for what Jinyoung would do, and it was quiet again for another few moments; very awake Jinyoung staring at Jaebum, who was a hair away from conking out for the night. Then Jinyoung spoke up finally.

“That wouldn’t make things weird?” He asked, his gaze distractedly trailing down to Jaebum’s arms and then his chest.

Jaebum was tired, dead tired, and now his arms were aching from holding them open. So, he moved without hesitation to Jinyoung this time, pressing their bodies together and intertwining their legs as he draped his arms around Jinyoung’s shoulders lazily.

Jinyoung instantly stiffened and looked at Jaebum with wide eyes once they were touching, and if Jaebum was a fraction more awake, he would have laughed at how taken back the man seemed to be at skinship.

“Nothing’s gotta be weird unless you make it.” Jaebum commented, tucking his face against Jinyoung’s collarbone through his shirt. Jinyoung was comfortable to hold on to like this, and if he didn’t snap out of it in the next few seconds, Jaebum would retaliate and _make it_ weird for him, because Jaebum didn’t really get embarrassed too easily about most physical things. Out here there really wasn’t anything left for personal space between men on the ship.

Lucky for him, Jinyoung’s hands found his hips, placing them here gently for a moment before moving to wrap his arms around Jaebum, holding him tightly against his frame, and the younger’s shivering slowly stopped.

Jaebum slowly drifted off, falling into a deep sleep that he hadn’t been able to reach in years.

Jaebum woke up with the midday sun shining in his eyes and Jinyoung wrapped tightly around him the next morning.

“You’ve gotten closer to him, it seems.” Mark commented a few days later as they stood on deck, securing the ropes since they went through a nasty fog last night and usually what resides in them mess with their equipment.

Jaebum has had a shadow for the past three days. Jinyoung has been following him around and looking over his shoulder at everything he’s doing, trying to learn everything he can about the ship. Also, he’s been continuously talking to Jaebum day in and day out until they both fell asleep tangled together in his cabin. Jaebum didn’t really know how to feel about the sudden change and familiarness, but Jinyoung seemed extra happy about it, so he wasn’t going to stop it all right now and his plan is just to let Jinyoung do whatever until he is a problem or too distracting, and then Jaebum will shoo him away for a little while.

Jaebum shrugs, finishing tying one knot he’s been working on and then turning to properly look at Mark. “I mean, he’s not _horrible_ company, but he’s still going back home after this trip. He doesn’t belong out here, but he loves it out here.” He mumbled, meeting Mark’s eyes, and the older rose a suspicious eyebrow. “He’s been glued to me since the night I went out to save him in the storm.” He said offhandedly, turning away again to secure another rope that they still needed to check.

“You like him.” Mark said bluntly in an accusing tone that Jaebum has always despised, and Jaebum just shook his head. “I don’t know how he got to you that easily, but he’ll be good for you, you need someone other than me and Youngjae to interact with.” Mark commented, following him to help with the rope.

Jaebum untied the now loose knot in the rope, handing one part to Mark and not commenting further until they had secured that one back too.

“Just because I let him follow me around doesn’t mean I like him.” Jaebum denied and dusted his hands off against his pants. “He’s just along for the ride, I couldn’t possibly do anything for him in this amount of time.”

Mark steadied him with a disapproving look, and Jaebum refused to feel guilty for denying to get close to Jinyoung like that.

The boy was leaving the ship eventually after all, Jaebum couldn’t get attached to him.

“We should dock in two days.” Jaebum murmured the next morning as he found Jinyoung already awake and looking out the small window above their- _his_ bed.

Jinyoung lazily turned his head to look at Jaebum, locking eyes with him with no fraction of hesitation. “How long have we been out on the water?” Jinyoung asked quietly, looking like a cat with the way he was spread out on his half of the bed and the sheet half covering his bare chest.

 _He looks beautiful,_ Jaebum noted, surprising even himself. Jaebum knew Jinyoung wasn’t bad looking, but admitting freely that he looked beautiful like this? That was a different ball game. _But he does,_ a small part of him argued, and _fuck_ he really did.

“Nearly a month.” Jaebum breathed, reaching out and brushing Jinyoung’s fringe out of his eyes as the younger rolled over onto his side to fully direct his body to face Jaebum’s, who was lying on his back still. “We’ve had to go slow and take back routes in safer waters because of the spike in activity, it rarely takes this long at all.” He explained and heard Jinyoung hum softly in acknowledgment. 

“So I’ll be on board for two months before you return me to my father?” He asked, scaring the hell out of Jaebum as he took Jaebum’s hand in his own and carefully laced their fingers together.

Jaebum’s chest was shooting pain all around into the rest of his body as he tried to not let his clear surprise and alarm at the small action show to Jinyoung. 

_Why did he do that? Why was he holding Jaebum’s hand? Wasn’t this something only couples do? Mark has never done this other than to drag him away from something bad. What was happening? Was he missing something?_

Jaebum nodded once, regaining his voice as quickly as he could to speak up again. “Yeah, if everything goes according to plan and we don’t get any surprises you should be safe in your own bed by the beginning of next month.” Jaebum answered in a decently level voice, giving Jinyoung a small, but still there, reassuring smile.

“How often do you come to the kingdom I live in?” Jinyoung asked, and that threw Jaebum off enough for him not to be able to conceal his surprise to the question.

Jaebum let out a huff of a breath, lowering his raised eyebrows and taking a moment to think about it before he found the right answer in the mess his mind was now. “A couple times a year, it’s more out of our way than others and most of the time they give us months long jobs like this one for example.” Jaebum responded carefully, feeling Jinyoung’s thumb ghost across his own.

Jinyoung frowned the slightest bit, but with how close they were lying, Jaebum could immediately pick up on it. “Will you at least come and visit me when you dock there?”

“I’ll round up everyone to see you if your family permits us to, Jinyoung.” Jaebum said sincerely, hoping that this wasn’t something that Jinyoung was worrying about so early in the trip.

Jinyoung’s face fell a bit, and Jaebum knew that both of them knew that wouldn’t happen.

Once Jaebum returned Jinyoung, he’d probably never see him again. Jinyoung was a noble, he’s around the age that he will be married soon.

In a years time, Jinyoung will be married to a beautiful noblewoman, and Jaebum could be dead in that time frame.

They both knew that was a pipe dream, but Jaebum would entertain him until the last second.

“You need a bath.” Jaebum said one day after their dinner, the sun was still decently high in the sky.

Jinyoung looked at him surprised, almost tripping over his feet since he wasn’t looking where he was at all now. “I- Do I smell or something?” He asked in a breathy voice, already going to raise the collar of his shirt to his nose in alarm from the comment, but Jaebum stopped him.

“No ‘Nyong, you’re fine, but you look like one of us right now. We need to get you all pretty.” Jaebum murmured, bumping his shoulder against Jinyoung’s as they exited the makeshift dining hall.

Jinyoung seemed surprised when Jaebum categorized him with everyone on the crew, but Jaebum witnessed a smile pull on his lips in the next second. “Do you guys even have a bathtub on board? I’ve never seen it before now.” He said, following Jaebum with no hesitation as he headed down.

“We do, but most of the time we all opt out of using it because of the amount of water it takes for a single bath.” He explains as he descended the stairs into the lower part of the hull. “We have a tub, and I’ll get buckets of water for you while you get ready.” He added, nodding his head to a corner of the large room that had a tub and a few towels.

Jinyoung walked towards the tub curiously and Jaebum took that as his cue to leave and head up to the kitchen above them for the gallon buckets Youngjae was helping him fill with warm water. Youngjae gave him a knowing look as Jaebum retrieved the first two buckets, which Jaebum promptly ignored as he began heading back down to Jinyoung again. Said man was looking around inside the room when Jaebum came back down the stairs, two almost spilling over buckets in his arms.

“Bring your ass over here and start getting undressed.” Jaebum taunted lightheartedly, setting one bucket down as he got to the tub and beginning to carefully dump the first bucket into the tub, making sure he doesn’t scorch his hands with the steam. In the next few seconds Jinyoung was by his side, watching over his shoulder to see what was happening. Jaebum had to peel his hands off his sides once he finished the last bucket, laughing as Jinyoung made a clear noise of protest but did back up a bit. “You can start undressing if you would like, I have two more buckets to go.” He said softly, heading to go grab those buckets, then quickly heading back downstairs.

Once he stepped foot into the room, though, he stilled in his tracks immediately.

There Jinyoung was, already in the bathtub with his arms folded over the side and chin resting on top of them, water dripping down onto the floor from his exposed skin.

_Jaebum was going to have a heart attack._

Jaebum ripped his eyes away from Jinyoung, his ears turning a bright red from the sight of him with _nothing on_ and looking at Jaebum like that.

“The water feels good…” Jinyoung murmured, watching Jaebum with hawk eyes as he drew closer. “You should join me, ‘Beom.” Jinyoung said with a sly smile pulling on his lips, one of his hands reaching out and gripping the hem of Jaebum’s pants, pulling him closer and making Jaebum let out a noise in surprise and almost tripped over his feet.

“Jesus Christ Jinyoung, I’m carrying two full buckets.” He fussed loudly, but Jinyoung just laughed brightly at Jaebum, tugging him closer to where Jaebum’s knees hit the side of the tub. “Hey, stop that you little devil!” Jaebum complained, a few spots of water soaking through his pants.

Jaebum carefully set down one bucket on the floor and cradled the third bucket in both of his hands. “Do you want me to pour it over your back?” He asked, and Jinyoung nodded with no hesitation. “Lean forward for me.” Jaebum requested, and he distractedly watched as Jinyoung lean forward and arch his back a bit before taking a deep breath and lifting the bucket up to chest level. 

As he slowly tipped it, he forced his mind back to normal, not looking anywhere except Jinyoung’s shoulder blades.

But then Jinyoung let out a happy, content groan in his throat as the water began falling over him, and Jaebum’s heart just about stopped.

He watched as a shudder ripped through Jinyoung’s body, gradually tipping the bucket more and more until the bucket was empty. The entire time Jinyoung stayed still, letting out quiet content hums that made Jaebum’s head go to static.

“There you go…” Jaebum murmured as the bucket ran out, setting it down beside the other one next to the tub. “You’ve got soap here, you can always call for someone and they’ll bring you anything you need.” He breathed, running a hand through his hair and stepping away to go grab the buckets to take them back upstairs.

But then there was a hand gripping the hem of his shirt stubbornly. Jaebum looked back to see Jinyoung watching him with a careful look in his eyes.

“Get in with me, ‘Beom.” Jinyoung requested quietly, and it actually made Jaebum pause in his tracks.

Fuck.

“I can’t, I have to go back up on deck and finish up everything for the night.” Jaebum denied carefully, giving Jinyoung a small, cautious smile.

“It won’t take hours. You could do that after.” Jinyoung tried to reason, confusing Jaebum thoroughly at why he wanted Jaebum in there with him so badly. “C’mon, we both can fit. That way both of us will look nice when we have to speak to the man you’re delivering all of this to.” He added, tugging a few times on his shirt and Jaebum looked away, letting out a shaky breath and scrubbing a hand over his face.

“It’s a bad idea, Jinyoung.” Jaebum whispered, looking back at him. “It’s a terrible idea. Anyone could come down here and get the wrong idea and your name might get slandered if word gets out.”

Jinyoung didn’t waver, and that scared Jaebum.

“I don’t care. I want you to get in with me and I want to wash your hair for you because it’s a mess.” Jinyoung said firmly, like he didn’t care who could see him right now. Like he isn’t nobility and Jaebum isn’t a pirate, much less a captain. Like he was ready to throw himself to the wolves for this one little thing.

**_“No.”_ **

Jaebum reached down and picked up the two buckets, straightening up and looking stubbornly away from Jinyoung.

Jinyoung’s hand fell from his shirt at the way Jaebum had said that, completely serious and not leaving any more room to argue. Guilt slowly was creeping into his throat, but he pushed it away the best he could.

“Youngjae and Mark should be around below. I’ll tell them to keep an ear out.” Jaebum said, ending the conversation and heading for the stairs.

_Jinyoung was getting careless._

_Jaebum would not let him throw away everything for people on a pirate ship he’s known for a little over a month._

When Jaebum tells Mark to keep an ear out for Jinyoung if he needs anything, he doesn’t miss the suspicious look Mark gave him as he left.

“Where’s Jinyoung?” Jaebum asked as he saw Mark come up from the lower deck alone, just having finished up making sure all the knots are all secure around the boat.

Mark gave him an unrecognizable look, watching him for a moment before answering. 

“He went up to your room a while ago.” Mark informed him, surprising him a bit. He hadn’t seen Jinyoung come up on deck, but he _had_ been distracted by Youngjae half the time.

“Gotcha. I already secured down all the ropes, so that’s done for tonight.” Jaebum said, his mind still a bit distracted by Jinyoung.

Mark hummed, narrowing his eyes before nodding a bit. “Get your shit together, Jae. He looked upset.” Mark scolded, and Jaebum’s eyebrows drew together. 

_He looked upset?_

“I’ll go check on him, do you have everything under control out here?” He asked, his feet already moving towards the door into the quarters. “I’ll find out what’s up.” Jaebum added, hearing Mark make a confirming noise before he fully began making his way towards the door.

Jaebum pushed open the door, shutting it back so that the wind wouldn’t throw it open again. No one seemed to be inside from what Jaebum could see as he moved towards the ladder that goes up to his quarters. The hatch was still open when Jaebum got to it, easily climbing up and seeing a body lying on the bed. 

“Nyong?” Jaebum called out, crouching down to close the hatch and straightening up with a soft groan in his throat.

Jaebum turned around, not hearing any response from the other person in the room. Jinyoung was wrapped up in their blankets, making himself a complete burrito. 

_It’s cute,_ Jaebum thinks idly, approaching the bed with a soft hum.

“Nyong, what’s wrong?” Jaebum asked quietly, his voice going soft in worry. 

Reaching his arm out, Jaebum gently tugged at the edge of the blanket covering Jinyoung’s head. Jinyoung’s eyes locked onto him and Jaebum paused, trying to figure out what was going on in Jinyoung’s head and what was happening right now. Jaebum let go of the blanket, his hand falling back to his side.

“Are yo-”

“Why didn’t you want to get in with me?” Jinyoung asked, and it clicked in Jaebum’s mind. 

_So_ this _is what it was all about._

Jaebum didn’t expect Jinyoung to take this personally.

Letting out a sigh, he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, running a hand through his hair. 

“If I did things would have gotten messy, and you don’t need to deal with something like that.” Jaebum explained the best he could without entirely giving himself away. 

Jinyoung sat up after Jaebum spoke, the blanket falling from his shoulders, and Jaebum got momentarily distracted by Jinyoung’s bare chest. 

His eyes locked onto Jinyoung’s collarbones, feeling the temptation bubble up inside his chest. Jinyoung was unfairly beautiful, he looked so soft and ethereal and that was dangerous to Jaebum’s resolve. 

“Do you want me, Captain?” Jinyoung asked out of nowhere, and Jaebum’s heart dropped to the floor. 

_Fuck._

“It doesn’t matter what I want.” Jaebum said firmly, his lips pressing together as he forced his eyes back up to Jinyoung’s face. 

Jinyoung looked at him for a moment before sighing and bringing the blanket back up to cover his shoulders. “It matters to me what you want, Beom. Right now I’m not a noble, I’m a member of your crew.”

Jaebum paused, wanting to argue that Jinyoung was still a noble no matter what, but that would just cause more trouble. “Are you ready for bed?” He asked after a moment, choosing to change the subject. 

Jinyoung gave him an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes and tucking the blanket tighter against him. “I guess.” He murmured, moving to lay back down, and Jaebum had relief shoot through him that Jinyoung didn’t push further. 

As soon as he gets into bed and slips under the covers, Jinyoung pressed close to him and tucked himself against Jaebum’s body, not giving him any chance to deny their usual routine, as if Jaebum could deny Jinyoung something like this at this point. 

Jaebum wrapped his arms around Jinyoung, their bodies getting situated against each other. 

_Of course he wanted Jinyoung, but Jaebum knew there was no way for Jinyoung to stay his once they got onto land._

The next morning Jaebum wakes up with Jinyoung tucked impossibly tight against him, legs slotted between Jaebum’s own. 

He takes in how beautiful Jinyoung looks, most of his weight resting on Jaebum’s body instead of the bed. His head is tucked against Jaebum’s chest close to his shoulder and he’s gripping Jaebum’s shirt like he’s afraid that Jaebum will disappear on him. 

It only takes him a few moments to decide to _fuck it,_ he’s not getting up right away like he usually does. They’re already docked, Jaebum can tell by how less the ship is rocking in the calmer waters close to shore. He has time, Mark can handle it this morning because they’re taking the day to get used to land again and see everything. 

Jaebum stretches out his free leg, letting out a soft groan as his ankle pops. 

That seemed to be enough movement to alert Jinyoung that he was awake, because Jinyoung’s grip on him tightened, making Jaebum chuckle. He doesn’t know if he _could_ get out of this hold even if he wanted to. 

Jaebum shifted a bit, just trying to get comfortable again, but Jinyoung seemed to take that as Jaebum trying to get up. It drew a whine out from Jinyoung and Jaebum watched as he tucked himself impossibly tighter against Jaebum’s frame. 

_Cute,_ Jaebum idly thought to himself, a soft, fond smile pulling on his lips. 

He moved his arms, one already loosely draped over Jinyoung’s waist, and wrapped both arms firmly around Jinyoung’s middle. That earned him a confused sound from the man on top of him, and he watched as Jinyoung slowly woke up. Jaebum gently smoothed one of his hands over the small of Jinyoung’s back. It only woke Jinyoung up further and before he knew it he was meeting Jinyoung’s eyes as the other raised his head up extremely confused.

“Morning.” Jaebum murmured quietly, and it took a long moment before Jinyoung’s brain turned on and he registered Jaebum was awake and still in bed with him. 

Jinyoung’s features relaxed and he pressed his face back into Jaebum’s chest, sighing softly. It was a minute before Jinyoung spoke, both of them just relaxing and getting used to the new rocking of the boat. “You’re still here this morning...” Jinyoung whispered, never loosening his grip on Jaebum.

“I am.” He agreed, smoothing his hand over Jinyoung’s bare back again and tracing out patterns there idly. 

“Are we docked?” Jinyoung asked against Jaebum’s shirt and Jaebum made a soft ‘mhm’ noise. “Don’t you have to go help with everything?” He asked, almost dejected, and that made Jaebum’s chest pinch painfully.

“Nope, I get to stay with you. If you want me to, that is.” Jaebum said, tracing out a few words, the ones he knows by heart how to write. 

That seems to catch Jinyoung off guard, but he quickly recovers and happily tucks himself completely against Jaebum. “What are we doing today..?” He asked softly into Jaebum’s sleep shirt.

“Just getting used to land, it takes a bit to get back to being comfortable without the sway of the ship.” He murmured, taking in how good this felt right now. 

They stayed in bed for a while longer, occasionally talking but mostly just enjoying the atmosphere in the cabin away from everything.

“I’ve never traveled anywhere, you know.” Jinyoung said, catching Jaebum’s attention as he left the ship with the other man in tow. “I don’t really know how to do any of this either.” He admitted, and Jaebum’s eyebrows shot up.

“So that means you’re not allowed to leave me or Mark.” He said without hesitation, knowing how much trouble someone could get into around the docks knowing nothing or what he shouldn’t do and completely avoid. “There are other pirates and people here that will jump at the chance to steal someone as pretty as you away, so I don’t want to let you wander around by yourself.” He explained, stepping onto the docks and stretching a bit, trying to steady his balance out for a moment to get used to how still the ground under him is. 

“I want to stay with you.” Jinyoung stated, following right after him, and Jaebum blinked open his eyes at that from where he had shut them while stretching his arms out. 

He was quiet for a moment, just thinking and watching Jinyoung carefully before he nodded a tiny bit. “Okay, you can, but we will be a lot busier than the rest of the men.”

Jinyoung was in awe of everything that Jaebum shows him, and it revealed to Jaebum just how sheltered and locked up Jinyoung’s family had him- who hasn’t ever pet a dock’s resident cat?! It was perfectly endearing to Jaebum, because everything he saw and experienced Jinyoung was excited, whereas Jaebum was mostly desensitized to everything like this. 

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Jaebum asked softly, back at the docks with everyone as they unloaded the cargo. Jinyoung was standing with him as they waited for the man who was receiving it and paying them for transporting it.

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal.” Jinyoung shrugged off, eyes scanning to catch a sight of the man. 

Jaebum asks nothing further, figuring if Jinyoung felt uncomfortable or uneasy in any way going forward, he would just let Jaebum know.

Surprisingly for him, the entire time during the exchange Jinyoung took the lead easily, drawing in the stranger’s attention with his confidence and how well spoken he can be. It didn’t take a long time, maybe ten minutes with Jaebum pitching in a handful of times. They ended the exchange and the man paid Jaebum before he left to go back to wherever he came from, leaving Jaebum alone with Jinyoung again. 

The sun is already beginning to set, and it casts a glow on Jinyoung’s skin. He’s paler than Jaebum, who has been out in the sunlight every day since his early teens. 

“So, what do we do now, Captain?” Jinyoung asked, turning to look at Jaebum again and Jaebum briefly got distracted by how ethereal he looked before he could respond.

“I’ll take you to where the men are, if you want?” Jaebum offered, and that piqued Jinyoung’s interest. 

“They’re not waiting on the ship?” He asked, and Jaebum shook his head, gesturing for Jinyoung to follow him as he began walking toward where the men are. “Where are they?” Jinyoung asked further, falling into step with Jaebum and keeping close as Jaebum leads them through the streets, taking alleyways and shortcuts that he knew by memory. “Captain, where are we going?” Jinyoung fussed as he was led along, but Jaebum just gave him a small grin, taking one more left before he grabbed Jinyoung’s wrist and they were ducking down a narrow staircase. 

The next moment Jaebum is yanking open a door, and then they’re inside a tavern that no one would have expected was there from the outside. 

“I’ve never been to a tavern before.” Jinyoung mumbled from his seat in between Jaebum and Mark.

“You’ve drank though, right?” Jaebum asked, eyeing the mug of mead that he’d given Jinyoung instead of keeping it for himself. He doesn’t like to drink much anyway.

“Yeah, I’ve drank wine before but I’ve never been like… fully drunk.” Jinyoung admitted, and Jaebum nodded, looking away and trying to distract himself from that fact.

He was in for one hell of a ride tonight.

The stayed out until the early morning hours, the crew mostly staying behind to grab one more round before they had to work in the morning.

Once they climbed up the ladder and got up to their cabin though, it only took a few seconds now alone to themselves before Jinyoung was on him, their mouths slotting together clumsily.

If he were sober, he would have noticed how inexperienced Jinyoung was, maybe how soft his lips were, but right now none of that registered. All that did was just how much of a relief it was to finally get Jinyoung’s touch and his lips on his own. 

Jaebum almost stumbled a few times as he walked Jinyoung backwards to the bed, falling with him as Jinyoung’s knees hit the old mattress and catching himself on his hands on either side of his head. They both moved fully onto the bed, bodies pressing together like it would kill both of them to move apart now. 

Jinyoung easily let Jaebum lead the kiss and before he knew it, Jaebum was licking into Jinyoung’s mouth in between each kiss, drawing them out and keeping Jinyoung from rushing the entire time. They were both eager, both of them were kissing like this was their last moments together, desire flooding through Jaebum’s mind. 

The only thing that broke Jaebum out of that haze, though, was when one of Jinyoung’s hands traveled down to where both of them were hard in their pants, his hand covering Jaebum’s cock and squeezing just slightly. It ripped out a moan from Jaebum, desire burning brighter in him enough to sober him up enough to think more clearly. 

“Hey… Hey, no, we can’t-” Jaebum began, the drinks he had tonight still making it a bit fuzzy, but he could tell exactly where this was going if he let it continue. He was cut off by Jinyoung palming his cock, a hiss escaping him as he pulled back from the kiss, putting a few inches of space between their lips so he couldn’t be tempted to continue on again. “We can’t go further, Jinyoung. We both drank tonight- it wouldn’t be right.” He whispered, taking in how ethereal Jinyoung looked right now with his hair a mess and his lips red from the kissing. “C’mon, we just- we just need to go to sleep, we’ll talk about it in the morning.” Jaebum said, wrapping one arm around Jinyoung’s waist and rolling them so that Jinyoung was lying on his chest like he usually was when they fell asleep. 

Luckily, Jinyoung doesn’t seem like he’s going to protest as he just huffs and adjusts himself to get comfortable against Jaebum. 

Now that they weren’t still riling each other up, Jaebum can feel Jinyoung relaxing against him, a telltale sign that he’s already falling asleep. 

Jaebum only stays awake for a little while longer to make sure Jinyoung will not wake up suddenly, but after he feels comfortable because Jinyoung is out for the night, Jaebum falls asleep in a matter of seconds. 

Jaebum groggily wakes up to the bed shifting, it takes a few seconds for him to come to enough so that he could open his eyes but when he does he finds an upset looking Jinyoung who’s already awake and sitting up on the edge of the bed. 

Before he could ask anything the pain in his head shot through, and Jaebum closed back his eyes with a pained groan. 

_Fuck,_ and he can’t stress this enough, _rum._

“Why are you up?” He asked, his voice scratchy and deep from the hangover mixed with just waking up. 

“I can remember last night. If you don’t want me like that, it’s fine, we can just forget about it happening.” Jinyoung whispered, looking back to Jaebum. 

Jaebum blanked, and after a few seconds he realized what Jinyoung was talking about and just what exactly happened between them.

“Oh.” He breathed out, opening his eyes and groggily pushing himself up onto his elbows to look at Jinyoung properly even though it worsened his headache. “If we’re going to sleep together, it will be completely sober.” Jaebum explained, the words at this point escaping his mouth quicker than he could process what he is saying or what it meant. 

“ _Would_ you even sleep with me?” Jinyoung fired right back, raising an eyebrow. “You’re confusing me, Jaebum. One second I think you might like me in that way, and then the next you pull things like the bathtub and last night. Just tell me where I stand.” Jinyoung asked, and Jaebum felt his chest tug towards Jinyoung when he heard how frustrated he sounded.

“Nyong, I-... You know what my life is like, you know I have nothing to offer you. If we do this, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re going back home after this trip, and that we can’t be together after that. I’m a _pirate_ for heaven’s sake.” He rambled, looking to the side away from Jinyoung and running a hand through his hair. 

“I don’t care.” Jinyoung suddenly said with all the confidence in the world, making Jaebum’s eyes snap back to him. “I’ll deal with that when I have to face it, but right now I just want whatever you’ll give me.” Jinyoung insisted, and that made Jaebum’s heart ache like he’s never felt before.

All that Jaebum tried to do to prevent Jinyoung from doing something like this failed.

“I’ll think about it.” He said after a few beats of silence, letting out a stressed sigh. “I’ll think about it and I’ll let you know by tonight, but I can’t promise anything.” He offers, and a small, satisfied smile breaks out over Jinyoung’s lips even though Jaebum has said nothing yet.

He should have been more careful. He should have kept pushing Jinyoung away repeatedly and not have gone soft to him. Now, Jinyoung is risking something for Jaebum that Jaebum can’t risk in return for him, because Jaebum has _nothing_ to risk this on.

That’s the problem.

Jaebum lingered around the ship and docks, talking with everyone to find out what was going on and what everyone’s plans were before he went inland with Jinyoung in tow. 

They stopped right in front of a clothing shop on one of the side streets, far enough from the docks that Jaebum could barely smell the ocean like he was used to. 

“What are we doing here of all places?” Jinyoung asked once he spotted the sign and how neat and tidy the place looked even on the outside. Jaebum just murmured that he has someone he has to see before they leave as he pushes the door open, the bell above them ringing to alert everyone that someone is coming inside or leaving. 

“Hello..?” He calls out once he steps inside, looking around for someone and at the sound of his voice footsteps echo towards them from the back of the shop.

After a few moments an older woman emerged from the back room and once she caught sight of Jaebum she gasped and rushed to him. Before Jaebum could react, she had her hands on his face, already wiping at Jaebum’s face where he had a bit of dirt. Jaebum let out a loud laugh at that and let her do whatever she wanted, a bright grin on his lips.

“Weren’t you here just a few months ago? Are you here for business again?” She asked in a thick accent that wasn’t native to this area, the lilt in her voice more foreign than any area around here. 

“I am.” He said happily, watching her grin at him with a fondness close to how a mother would look at her son. “Ah, this is Jinyoung, he’s from Valphate.” He blurted, turning to look back to Jinyoung with his own fond gleam in his eyes.

He hopes Jinyoung doesn’t notice.

They stay there for the rest of the afternoon until Jaebum notices the sun starting to set and the sky turning soft orange and pink. 

After they left, Jaebum led them back to the tavern, explaining to Jinyoung on the way there that most pirates and people alike gathered there not only for drinks, but that most everyone just gathered there. 

When they got to the tavern, Jinyoung seemed to refuse to leave his side, sitting pressed against Jaebum’s side in a booth. 

Jaebum doesn’t protest or try to move away though. Instead, he embraced it with minimal hesitation only at first. When Jinyoung pressed against his side for the second time, Jaebum draped his arm over his shoulders and urged him to just come closer like he wanted. Jinyoung seemed a bit surprised, but he didn’t waste time slotting himself into that space, leaning into him and relaxing fully. Jaebum doesn’t mind, really. Jinyoung’s weight was surprisingly comfortable against him. Jaebum was still jumpy about some things, like when Jinyoung would suddenly look up to him and their faces are only inches apart, grinning at something Jaebum had said or just watching him speak. 

After a while he noticed Mark stand, and when he gave Jaebum a curious look while going to get another glass of rum, Jaebum gently separated himself from Jinyoung and trailed after Mark. 

“What’s going on there?” Mark asked finally asked, both of them still standing by the tavern. 

Jaebum stayed quiet for a moment, gazing over to how well Jinyoung was getting along with the surrounding men, before responding. “He wants to give us a try, and I don’t know if I should. He’s going to go back home and when he does, everything has to end no matter what.” He explained softly, still hesitant to even say that out loud, not in the safety of his cabin with Jinyoung. 

“Well, do you like him like that? If he wasn’t a noble would you have pursued him?” Mark asked with no hesitation, and Jaebum found him already looking at him when he looked away from Jinyoung and back to Mark.

“Yeah, but-” He began, but Mark quickly cut him off.

“Take the chance, Jae. If he wants it enough to ask for it explicitly, then don’t let the fact that you’ll have to let him go change your decision. Love him while you can.” Mark said, already beginning to push off the bar and walk to the table with his drink, leaving Jaebum stunned that Mark, the person who doesn’t even believe in love, just said that to him.

He takes a few long moments before his brain reboots and comes back online. 

And then he’s walking back towards his men, eyes lingering on Jinyoung.

“I’m in if you still want to try it out.” Jaebum breathed, just barely audible still as he shuts the hatch to the cabin after they all return and everyone is heading to bed. 

“Really?” Jinyoung breathed out, and when Jaebum turned he looked a bit shocked at the decision, like he was expecting Jaebum to reject him in the end. 

“Yeah, I’m not sure how good I’ll be at this, but I’ll try.” Jaebum said, walking over to the bed and climbing under the covers as Jinyoung lifted them for him to get in. 

“Would you kiss me again if I asked?” Jinyoung asked as Jaebum laid down and got settled in before opening his arms, allowing Jinyoung to get into his usual spot against Jaebum. 

Jaebum paused for a moment, wondering if Jinyoung thought there was any doubt that he would. After Jinyoung settled against him fully, Jaebum wrapped one arm around his waist but the other went to guide Jinyoung’s face out of the crook of his neck and in the matter of a second Jaebum slots their lips together. It’s just barely there at first, just a brush of contact, but then Jaebum fully pressed their lips together, letting out a soft hum. Jinyoung took a moment to process it happening, but once he did, he’s kissing Jaebum back entirely needily and Jaebum lets him take all he wants, lets Jinyoung lick into his mouth until he’s satisfied and pulls away after a while of just enjoying the fact that they’re both allowed to do this. 

“If I say I want this, then just trust me. Ask for whatever you want.” Jaebum mumbled, wrapping both his arms around Jinyoung’s middle and smiling crookedly as Jinyoung hid his face in Jaebum’s neck again. 

“Thank you for giving me a chance.” Jinyoung breathed, settling against Jaebum to go to sleep and tangling their legs together.

Jaebum just hummed in response, contently relaxing with Jinyoung’s weight half blanketing him.

It only took a few minutes before Jaebum fell into a peaceful sleep, not worrying about hundreds of things and only thinking about the fact that this was happening. Jaebum actually being able to try to be with Jinyoung romantically is the only thing on his mind.

Jaebum woke up the next morning to Jinyoung shifting on top of him.

He slowly came to, tightening his arms around Jinyoung’s waist instinctively and moving his legs a bit. When he blinked open his eyes he was met with the sight of Jinyoung’s head on the pillow next to him, already fully awake and looking at Jaebum like he hung the stars and moon. 

Then Jinyoung was moving again and before he could process in his sleep hazed brain what would happen, Jinyoung’s lips found his. It took him a second to fully wake up enough to respond, but then he was kissing back, the kiss staying slow and drawn out mostly.

He could clearly tell now that Jinyoung wasn’t as used to kissing as Jaebum was, but that didn’t mean that Jinyoung was a bad kisser. Hell, he kisses better than any guy he’s been with.

They stay there for what feels like hours, both of them getting used to what this was like and what it meant for them now that they could freely do this. Jaebum didn’t know what caused it, but he almost feels giddy each time that Jinyoung deepens the kiss or pulls away with a soft giggle when Jaebum nips at his lips. 

Eventually everything slowed down, both of them lying against the pillows with their mouths just mere inches apart.

“I’m not used to this, it’ll take some time adjusting to.” Jaebum said in a small light-hearted warning, just wanting to make sure Jinyoung knew that if he jerks away from anything or gets spooked, it’s because he’s had nothing like this before, it’s all been no strings or feelings attached.

“We can take this as slow as we need to, Jaebum. I’m fine with that.” Jinyoung says with an affectionate smile, slowly sitting up and stretching. Jaebum’s eyes followed his body shamelessly now, taking in everything he could. “We should probably go down before the men get impatient and come up here.” Jinyoung said playfully, standing up after a few more moments and stretching out his back this time.

This time, Jinyoung caught the way Jaebum’s eyes roamed over his frame and sent a confident smirk over to him.

_Fuck._

_Jinyoung will kill him, this is how he dies._

“How much longer do we have?” Jinyoung asked when they both got to the main deck, not outside yet where he could hear the men horse playing and yelling. 

He goes quiet for a moment, double checking in his mind how long it would be to get back before he spoke. “The least time we’d have is a month. If we take a different route than how we came I could make it around a month and a half.” Jaebum said honestly, hating the feeling of longing is bubbling up in his chest already at the mention of it. “But,” He continues on, nervously licking his lips out of habit. “I can find another job here easily. I could probably turn that one month into a few weeks to get to the next place and then two months heading back.” Jaebum offered, and Jinyoung seemed surprised that Jaebum would do that just to give them more time. “I have to talk to Mark, but it’s an option that I can make happen if you want me to.”

“I’d love it if you could.” Jinyoung said softly, taking a step closer and before Jaebum can react, he hooked a finger into the laces of Jaebum’s shirt and pressed a soft, sweet and brief kiss to his lips before letting him go. 

Jaebum is stunned for a moment, his voice escaping him for those few seconds before a small amused laugh bubbled out of him, leaning in to press a kiss to Jinyoung’s temple before leading them outside so that Jaebum could make sure the men aren’t killing each other while wrestling.

  
  


Jinyoung ends up going with Youngjae into town to explore the markets today while Jaebum stayed back with Mark, knowing that they had to talk about other things than even the extension. 

After securing the ship back up for the day, he headed out and found Mark still on the docks, sitting with his legs dangling off and just taking in the sun. Jaebum sat down next to him and Mark’s head lolls to the side to look at him.

“What would you say if I asked if we could take another job here?” Jaebum asked hesitantly, seeing the way Mark’s attention narrowed in on him. 

“Is this about him?” Mark asked, and Jaebum hesitated before nodding, making Mark grunt and turn back to the sea. “That’ll be okay, if you can find something I don’t mind doing it.” Mark said finally, surprisingly going along with this that easily. 

And Jaebum guesses that’s that.

A few minutes later he got up to go head into town, looking for who he knew could direct him to a job. It takes nearly twenty minutes to get into contact with someone, but once he does everything goes smoothly and he lines the job up for the next day easily.

When Jaebum finally gets back to the docks, it’s evening, and the sun is low in the sky. 

“We have another job to start tomorrow, so don’t stay out all night.” Jaebum called out, hearing a few small groans, but choosing to ignore them in favor of walking to where Mark was, giving him the entire run down of their new plan for the now turned two-and-a-half months they’re finishing everything up. 

After everything was settled Jaebum went to find Jinyoung, which doesn’t take him long before he spotted him sitting at the end of the docks, watching the water under him. Jaebum heads towards him and Youngjae, and when the other male spotted Jaebum heading their way, he gave Jaebum a soft knowing smile before getting up and heading past Jaebum back to where the crew are, giving Jaebum a moment with Jinyoung that he’s thankful for.

“It all went smoothly, we’re good for our two-and-a-half months.” Jaebum said, sitting down beside him and watching as Jinyoung lit up at the news, a bright grin pulling on his lips. Before Jaebum could register Jinyoung moving any closer, there was a faint touch of lips on his cheek, just enough to spook him into almost falling off the docks and into the water. The only thing that stops Jaebum is Jinyoung quickly grabbing him and keeping him from taking a swim. “Fuck, warn me if you’re going to do that suddenly.” Jaebum practically whined, gripping onto Jinyoung tightly until he steadied himself back out. 

  
  


After Jinyoung sends off a letter to his father, telling him that a little more than a month longer because of complications having got tied up on land to wait out weather, he won’t leave Jaebum’s side. 

Jaebum doesn’t mind actually, even if it’s odd to have a permanent shadow following him around on the ship as he prepares and makes sure everything is set up and ready to be secured in the morning when they leave.

It’s peaceful, Jaebum has to admit. Jinyoung isn’t constantly talking to him, but he pipes in with questions and comments about what Jaebum is doing now and then. Everyone is back on the ship by the time the sun is finishing setting in the sky, casting a dull reddish hue across everything that the light can touch. 

Once both of them get up to the cabin for the night, Jinyoung asks Jaebum to kiss him again, and Jaebum pauses where he’s changing shirts, blinking a few times before letting out a soft chuckle and finishing pulling on the clean shirt. 

“Come with me tonight, I want to show you something.” Jaebum murmured against his lips, and seconds later Jinyoung pulls back, giving him a very skeptical look. “You’ll like it, promise.” He reassured, and that was all he needed for Jinyoung to give in and follow him down the latter.

Jaebum snuck off the ship with Jinyoung’s hand in his own, the entire city seemingly asleep except for a rare light in a windowsill or one of the roaming stray cats passing by them as he leads Jinyoung to their destination for the night. 

Jaebum grinned as they broke through a treeline, his eyes locking onto what he brought Jinyoung here for. 

In a tiny clearing there is a waterfall with a small body of water before it returns back into the stream that flows through the island. The moon illuminates it perfectly, lighting up the surface of the water and giving them all the light they needed to see everything tonight. 

“We’re here.” Jaebum said softly, letting go of Jinyoung’s hand and kicking off his boots, beginning to take off his socks before he notices Jinyoung watching him with wide, confused eyes as to why he brought him here and why in the world he was taking his shoes off. “Strip pretty boy, or I’ll pull you in with me in all your clothes. Your choice.” Jaebum said, a happy and teasing lilt completely taking over his voice as he tugs off his shirt after untucking it. His pants come off soon after, leaving him completely bare of any cloth on his body. 

He shot Jinyoung a cocky grin over his shoulder as he took a step closer to the body of water, meeting Jinyoung’s wide eyes for a second before he’s fully getting in, the water only coming up to his abdomen. 

Jaebum turns then, completely facing Jinyoung now and cocking a challenging eyebrow at the man who’s still frozen ten feet away from him in the water. 

“C’mon, you trust me right? No one is going to find us here.” Jaebum encouraged, giving him a bright grin as he sinks further down, letting the water reach and lap against his shoulders.

“Jaebum I don’t know…” Jinyoung trailed off, biting his lip and watching Jaebum with careful eyes.

“I won’t make you if you truly don’t want to.” Jaebum murmured, his voice softening at Jinyoung’s clear steady hesitation. “I just figured you might like something like this, but if I’m wrong that’s okay and we can go back.” He said truthfully, his mind slipping from the playful emotion and turning into a mess, over analyzing the reasons he thought this was a good idea, regret slowly settling into his bones. 

Jaebum was about to get out of the water when Jinyoung suddenly kicked off his shoes, beginning to swiftly strip down, completely surprising Jaebum. He settled back into the water rendered speechless as more and more of Jinyoung’s skin is visible. 

It only takes a few moments before Jinyoung is completely bare, setting his clothes on a nearby rock closer to the waterfall and beginning to walk towards Jaebum. 

Jaebum waded closer to the store, a grin spreading across his lips as Jinyoung moved closer, taking tentative steps into the water. 

He doesn’t look too happy to feel it against his feet, but he continued on, taking Jaebum’s hands when he offered them to help Jinyoung feel more secure and steady making his way in.

Once he was in up to his hips be beelined for Jaebum, who let out a soft ‘oof’ when Jinyoung plastered himself against Jaebum’s body.

“Not as bad as you thought, right?” Jaebum said with a soft laugh, reaching down and lifting Jinyoung’s thighs, the other easily moving to wrap his legs around Jaebum’s waist and his arms follow suit, circling Jaebum’s shoulders and holding on tighter than he probably had to. “It’s fresh water here, so I guess this is me making it up to you for the bath you wanted to share.” He said, walking them deeper into the water until they were right beside the waterfall and the water rose up to their chests. 

“This is different than a bath, ‘Beom.” Jinyoung said, but he wasn’t able to conceal a small grin that escaped, making Jaebum’s smile brighten further. 

“Water is water, you wanted me in the tub and now you get an entire waterfall to yourself.” Jaebum murmured, leaning in and stealing a quick kiss at the corner of his lips, earning a content noise drawn from Jinyoung.

“I guess so, I’ve just never… done anything like this. I’ve never been allowed to go in lakes or the ocean.” Jinyoung admitted quietly and that shocked Jaebum. 

“Do you know how to swim?” Jaebum asked, the thought suddenly hitting him full force. He’s never thought to ask, but fuck, now he’s hyper aware.

“No, that’s why I didn’t really want to get in at first.” Jinyoung admitted hesitantly and that made Jaebum grip Jinyoung’s thighs more securely out of instinct.

“You got on a _boat_ that could _capsize_ at any moment without- _Jinyoung_.” Jaebum breathed out before letting the name fall from his lips as a frustrated groan, knowing full well if anything happened and the sea got Jinyoung Jaebum most likely couldn’t save him in time.

“I can handle myself, you’ve seen that now.” Jinyoung countered and Jaebum huffed in objection, but before he could speak up again Jinyoung’s soft lips were covering his own and the thoughts quickly faded to background noise. 

There wasn’t any rush to the kiss, staying slow and drawn out. The heat was still definitely there, but it wasn’t needy, just enjoying the feeling of their lips together along with their bodies so close and the water surrounding them. 

_This feels right,_ he admits to himself as Jinyoung gives him one last kiss to the corner of his mouth before pulling back to look around curiously at the water again. 

  
  


The next morning goes by with no hitch, all the men aiding in loading the crates onto the ship and into the hold. Everyone was still waking up, so Jaebum was thankful that there were only around ten medium weight crates that they needed to load, because he knew all too well that someone would have dropped one on their foot or someone else if they were any heavier and they had to lift any more.

Leaving the ports and setting off to the next destination was smooth enough, not running into any problems thankfully. 

Jaebum spent the entire day with Jinyoung beside him, helping with whatever he could but mostly just staying glued to Jaebum’s hip and most times touching him someway, whether that be a hand on his shoulder or leaning against his sides or back. By the end of the day, Jaebum was used to Jinyoung’s presence in this sense, it not startling him nearly as much as it had yesterday. Jinyoung even steals a few small kisses from him when they’re caught alone in a part of a ship. It’s weird for Jaebum, not that he doesn’t like it, it’s just that it’s so new for him, he’s had no one want this from him, had no one so insistent to fall for him. 

It only takes a few more days before Jaebum’s walls are mostly all broken down to the point where Jinyoung can even coax him into getting lost into a kiss in front of his crew when they have a moment to themselves. Most of the crew would just ignore them by now, everyone used to seeing the two together, but sometimes Youngjae would gag dramatically when he spotted them, sending Jinyoung into a laughing fit and spooking Jaebum enough to make him jump each time it happened.

They didn’t speak about their expiry date at all until close to a month in, and it only happened by chance when Jinyoung probably thought he had fallen asleep.

“I think I’m in love with you.” Jaebum faintly hears, on the edge of falling asleep and it woke him up enough to tilt his head down and press a small reassuring kiss to Jinyoung’s temple. ”I don’t want to leave you.” He adds, and that sent a jolt of pain through his chest. 

“I think I love you too.” He whispered, choosing to not address the second part, knowing it would just rub salt into a wound that is already there. 

They didn’t need to talk about it, Jaebum reasoned with himself as the excuse. It didn’t matter right now, he just wants to enjoy the time he has. 

Jaebum woke to lips peppering light kisses along his face. 

It felt good to wake up like this and immediately be able to draw Jinyoung into a sleepy kiss. It was messy and slowly drawn out, but it gradually woke Jaebum up. 

“We probably should go down for breakfast. The food will get cold.” Jaebum murmured against Jinyoung’s lips, laughing a bit when Jinyoung made a disappointed noise. 

“Let me give you a reason to stay in bed.” Jinyoung tempted, nipping at Jaebum’s lips and that lit up something in Jaebum. It was like a switch flipped between them, both of them deepening the kiss in the next seconds. 

Jaebum licked into Jinyoung’s mouth in between every kiss, their movements getting more and more frantic and needy until Jaebum felt Jinyoung shift his body against his own, and he registered that Jinyoung was halfway hard in his pants. 

“We don’t have to if you don’t feel comfortable yet.” Jaebum reminded, and Jinyoung took a moment to break the kiss, pulling back enough to look at Jaebum with hazy eyes. 

“I want you to fuck me.” Jinyoung urged, giving him a small grin before diving back in for another kiss. Stripping out of their clothes was easy once they finally started moving to progress this further. Jaebum knew Jinyoung liked his tattoos, he could see when Jinyoung’s eyes lingered on the ones peeking out of his shirt, but right now he seemed mesmerized by the ink lying under his skin. 

“How did you get them?” Jinyoung asked, sitting up and straddling Jaebum’s waist as Jinyoung was still only in a button-down shirt, and Jaebum had completely stripped everything. 

“Just collected them when we docked and people offered. They’re all over a year old now.” Jaebum said, raking his eyes over Jinyoung’s frame, taking in how ethereal he looks right now. Jinyoung shivered a bit under his touch when Jaebum smoothed his hands up Jinyoung’s things and settled on his hips, his thumbs brushing over his hip bones. “Have you ever even fingered yourself before? Or are we starting from scratch?” Jaebum questioned, and Jinyoung nodded his head thankfully. Jaebum grabbed a bottle of oil from the nightstand, knowing they will need _something_ to aid all of this. 

“But I’ve never been with... you know…” Jinyoung began at the same time that Jaebum unscrewed the lid off the bottle. 

Jaebum paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow. “Never been with a guy?” He guessed, and when Jinyoung slightly nodded, Jaebum just let out a puff of a laugh. “I guessed that, Nyong.” Jaebum murmured with an amused glint in his eyes, slicking up three of his fingers. “I’ll take care of you, just relax.” He reassured, sending Jinyoung a soft, knowing smile. That seems to ease Jinyoung, and he gets a smile back as Jinyoung’s hands rested against his ribs and his fingers spread out. 

Jaebum set the bottle back on the nightstand with the top still off in case they need anymore before he’s flipping them so that Jinyoung is underneath him. It startles out a squeak in surprise from Jinyoung, but other than that he recovers easily, tangling his hands into Jaebum’s hair and bringing him down into another kiss.

He easily got momentarily distracted, letting out a soft content hum as Jinyoung licked into his mouth. For the younger not to have much experience, he caught onto things dangerously quickly and at this point it affected Jaebum entirely too much.

“Relax for me, okay? It’ll be so much easier if you just take it easy.” He murmured, moving to drag his fingers up from Jinyoung’s hip to his entrance, one finger circling there before gently beginning to press inside, taking it as slow and careful as humanly possible.

Jinyoung instantly tensed, shifting his hips against the bed to get comfortable, and to be honest Jaebum never really thought they would get past this point without something like this. 

“Calm down, the more you tense up the harder of a time I will have trying to stretch you for what you want.” Jaebum reminded, knowing that Jinyoung knew better than to fully tense up when a digit is inside of him for the first time. “How do you want to do this?” He asked, not knowing how Jinyoung wanted Jaebum. 

“I want to see you, would you fuck me like this?” He asked softly, and Jaebum’s chest warmed up considerably in his love for this man. 

“Course I can, I’ll do whatever you want.” Jaebum reassured, leaning down and slipping him into a slow, purposeful kiss and it did its job in relaxing Jinyoung enough for Jaebum to get down to his knuckle before he paused his hand, letting Jinyoung get used to the feeling. After a few moments, Jinyoung rolled his hips down and a shudder ran through his body.

“Keep going.” Jinyoung urged against his lips, just a small murmur, but Jaebum heard it clear as day anyways. So Jaebum does, curling his finger just slightly, quickly finding what he was looking for and Jinyoung let out a squeak against his lips, his eyes snapping open and Jaebum let out another chuckle, pulling his lips back enough to look at him. 

“You ever done _that_ before?” Jaebum asked, and Jinyoung shook his head, shocked by the feeling. “That, ‘Nyong, is your sweet spot. But you can’t be screaming, the men aren’t that far away and they’ll come up worried if they hear you.” Jaebum explained, thrusting his finger a few more times before slipping in the second one. Jinyoung took the stretch like a champ, working to keep his body relaxed for Jaebum as he worked him open, slipping in a third after a minute when he thought he could handle it.

After Jinyoung seemed to adjust to the further stretch, Jaebum began moving his fingers again, being more gentle than he normally would with someone he’s just spending the night with because this is Jinyoung, the guy who screamed when a seagull dove at him today.

“Hurry, I’m ready.” Jinyoung whined, and Jaebum looked back into his eyes, raising an eyebrow. He’s about to tell him that no, he’s not, he’s not completely relaxed yet, but then Jinyoung is tightening around his fingers dangerously and Jaebum’s mouth goes dry. 

_Fuck._ That went straight to his dick.

“You sure you’re not an incubus?” He asked, almost grumbling it out as he leant back in to connect their lips again. Jinyoung huffed out a halfhearted chuckle against his lips, easily slipping into the kiss, a nice distraction for him. It doesn’t take much longer until Jaebum feels comfortable enough to slip out his fingers, drinking in the whine that Jinyoung makes into the kiss before one of his hands disappear. Jinyoung only seems to notice when Jaebum’s breath hitches as he slicks up his cock, and he’s pulling away from the kiss to properly look at Jaebum again.

 _“Oh my god.”_ Jinyoung breathed out when Jaebum began slowly slipping into him, going extremely slow since Jinyoung has never done this before and Jaebum doesn’t want to risk the chance that he hurts him. 

It went quiet when Jaebum fully bottomed out inside him, Jaebum ducking his head down into Jinyoung’s neck, leaving soft trails of his lips all over the area.

_If he was internally dying at how warm and tight Jinyoung was around him, it was fine. He could handle holding still for now until Jinyoung told him he was okay._

“You can move.” Jinyoung breathed after a long pause, and Jaebum drew in a deep breath before moving his hips, grinding against Jinyoung once to make sure he’s all right.

Though, when he heard Jinyoung’s breath hitch and a muffled moan escaped him, it was game on.

Jaebum moved his hips back to where he was almost all outside of him before sliding back home with a guttural groan, beginning to kiss Jinyoung’s neck again but this time intending to leave marks, nipping and sucking the expanse of skin offered to him. It doesn’t take long before Jaebum settles into a steady pace, not too fast, still taking it easy for the moment. Jinyoung’s hands move, one finding solace in combing thought his hair before gripping at the strands closer to the nape of his neck, and the other tightly holding onto one of his biceps, dangerously close to digging his nails into the skin there.

“I’m not going to break, you can do more than this.” Jinyoung got out in a decently steady voice, only wavering once or twice as he spoke.

That made Jaebum stop his conquest, his lips leaving Jinyoung’s neck to lift his head and lock eyes with Jinyoung. 

“How do you want me to fuck you baby?” Jaebum murmured, pressing a kiss to the corner of Jinyoung’s lips as his hips kept rocking into Jinyoung, giving them both enough pleasure to keep their skin alight, but not just enough to satisfy yet. 

“Rough me up, Jae. I can handle it-” Jinyoung began, but Jaebum’s restraint on himself shattered the moment Jinyoung asked for that, his hips snapping back into Jinyoung. Jinyoung cut himself off with a moan that came out more as a whine, the nails digging into his arm now. “Again.” Jinyoung breathed out, already looking so messy, and they’ve just really gotten started. 

Jaebum really has never denied Jinyoung _anything_.

His hips pick up speed, the oil making the side of their bodies messy but smooth enough to make Jaebum’s head spin a couple thrusts later when Jinyoung suddenly tightened around him. 

_“Fuck.”_ Jaebum hissed out, leaning down and connecting their lips back together in a rough, needy kiss as he let himself _take_ , beginning to fuck Jinyoung hard into the mattress.

Jinyoung practically melted into Jaebum, his body rocking upwards against the mattress with each thrust, and Jaebum pressed his body fully to Jinyoung’s and slipped his tongue into Jinyoung’s mouth. 

The hand in Jaebum’s hair tightens moments later and Jinyoung’s body jerks at one thrust, making Jaebum grin a bit into the kiss.

_Bingo._

Jaebum immediately angled his hips to hit at that angle, moving to directly hit his prostate and Jinyoung’s scream when Jaebum hit it the second time even harder would have alerted half the ship if his lips weren’t still locked with Jaebum’s. 

He hit there over and over, drinking in every sound that left Jinyoung eagerly. Jaebum wished he could _let_ Jinyoung be as loud as he wants, that he could hear every sound Jinyoung made loud and clear without worry of everyone else hearing them too.

“J-Jae please- ‘m close-” Jinyoung rambled out against his lips, letting Jaebum know and that spurred the captain on, one of his hands slipping between their bodies and quickly finding Jinyoung’s cock. He just about screams when Jaebum tightly wraps his hand around him, jerking him off in time with each of Jaebum’s thrusts. 

With the way Jinyoung is tightening around him, Jaebum won’t be able to last much longer either, so he puts all of his energy into getting Jinyoung to cum before him. 

Before he could even make another coherent thought, Jinyoung is sucking on his tongue and that sent a shiver through Jaebum’s entire body, a guttural moan being drawn from him. 

It only took Jaebum a few more hard thrusts before Jinyoung came undone under him, his thighs shaking from where they are wrapped around Jaebum’s waist as he painted his cum over both of their chests.

Jaebum let out a handful of loud swears at how Jinyoung tightened around him, making his head blank and his vision going spotty under his eyelids as his entire body tensed, his hips stuttering. Not a second later he felt the tension in him snap and he’s cumming, Jinyoung’s tongue still in his mouth, eagerly taking all the sounds ripped from Jaebum. 

After a few more thrusts Jaebum stills, letting out a deep exhale before reluctantly pulling back a bit to catch his breath. 

_“Fuck.”_ Is the first word that leaves Jaebum’s lips, not knowing what else to say right now with his mind scrambled from how hard he just came.

“I told you I could convince you to stay in bed longer.” Jinyoung says with a satisfied but still cocky grin on his lips, making Jaebum meet his eyes before he’s snorting, tucking his face into Jinyoung’s neck with a soft puff of a laugh.

Mark raised an eyebrow when they finally came down, a knowing quirk pulling at his lips. 

“Your food is in the kitchen. I managed to save it from getting eaten.” He said simply and Jaebum gave him a thankful grin, leading Jinyoung into the kitchen with their laced fingers.

Jaebum caught the sound of voices one afternoon, and it made alarms blare in his ears.

“Inside, everyone, go down to the lower deck. Gather everyone you see on the way.” Jaebum called out, moving quickly to where Mark is across the deck and when he gets to them Mark looks like he already is on the same page. “Go down and stay quiet, they’re coming by and might get on board.” Jaebum repeats to the surrounding men, telling them to spread the word, and that’s enough to get all of them men moving and going down to the hold to hunker down. 

“I will take Jinyoung up to the cabin, keep the men quiet and safe for me.” Jaebum says, looking out into the distance and thankfully not seeing anyone visible yet. Mark nods and squeezes his shoulder lightly, whispering a soft ‘be careful’ before he’s off with the last of the crew to leave the top deck, audibly locking that hatch behind him and boarding it up with the plank. 

Jaebum heads back over to where he left Jinyoung, who looks more confused and almost genuinely scared than he’s ever seen him. 

“I figured you weren’t leaving my side right now. C’mon, we have to go up to the cabin.” Jaebum murmurs, taking Jinyoung’s hand in his own and leading him inside, not locking the door to the outside just to please the curiosity of what he knew would come barging through the ship soon. Once they get up to the cabin Jaebum slides the lock into place and goes to grab the wooden plank propped up against the wall, sliding it into the metal frames on either side of the hatch so it can’t be easily broken into even if they bust the old metal lock. Once that’s done and he makes sure it isn’t going anywhere, he moves to quickly push his desk on top of the entry point, and then a chest directly under it where a chair would go. 

Jaebum is clearly spooked, he knows that it’s visible because he knows what those voices meant when he couldn’t see a ship anywhere near them with people on it. He heads to the bed, easing Jinyoung with him and settling with his back resting against the wall. Jinyoung climbed into his lap with no need to be asked, his legs on either side of Jaebum’s. “What’s going on, Jaebum.” Jinyoung asked, hesitance and fear clear in the tone of his voice. 

“Sirens.” Jaebum said simply, wrapping his arms protectively around Jinyoung’s middle and letting him lean most of his weight against Jaebum’s frame. “No matter what happens do not talk or move quickly. If it comes down to it and something breaks through all of that, you hide the moment I move.” Jaebum said, his voice hushing into a quiet whisper as he heard a loud set of thumps echo through the ship from the direction of the main area. “We can’t talk or they’ll hear us, trust me right now.” He said with a tone of finality, and Jinyoung still looked confused and spooked. But he nods and wraps his arms over Jaebum’s shoulders, hiding his face in Jaebum’s neck and pressing as close as possible to Jaebum.

It doesn’t take long for the voices to reappear after the initial noise, louder and clearer than when he had heard them before. Jaebum stayed as still as he could, listening as the footsteps drew closer and the voices grew louder.

In the matter of thirty seconds, Jaebum hears footsteps underneath them and one body coming up the ladder. The hatch jumps as the siren tries it, expecting it to be open, and a laugh echoed through the ship from the other side of the barrier between him and Jinyoung, and those things.

 _“Captain, let me in~”_ A male voice called out, smooth and tempting like Jaebum already expected. He just held onto Jinyoung tighter, who was clinging to him as if his life depended on being as close to Jaebum as possible right now. When the thing outside doesn’t get a reply or even any noise like it wants as conformation, an angry, guttural grumble echoes out. Not anything human-like, or even something he thought a human could replicate. It was haunting, too animalistic and unrestrained.

Then, the hatch is hit with force, making the wood bang and startling Jinyoung enough to make his breath catch. This time, the banging doesn’t stop after one time, and after the first ten tries, Jaebum’s nerves rose. There was no way for the thing to truly know that someone was in here, if it did all of them would swarm the hatch. 

This continued on for twenty-two minutes, with Jaebum keeping track of every passing second. 

After one last final bang voices echoed through the ship, still talking in foreign tongues. It must be the end of sunset, because it was already getting dark when everyone was outside. He guesses the night is dangerous even for a siren out in the open on a full moon.

Jaebum doesn’t move for a long time after the things audibly leave, but when he does, the first thing he does is tilt Jinyoung’s face up out of where he was hiding it his neck to meet Jaebum’s eyes before he leaned in and kissed the teary-eyed man carefully. It’s a comfort to both of them, they both melt into it effortlessly, both still visibly shaken up. After that moment of relief, Jaebum moves them slowly so they’re lying down under the blanket, Jinyoung clinging to him still as they both settle against each other and tangle their legs together. Jaebum held Jinyoung protectively against him, still not fully relaxed but okay enough that he doesn’t feel the need to watch the hatch anymore.

“What would have happened if it got through?” Jinyoung asked quietly, tucking his face against Jaebum’s chest, and the question left a bad taste in his mouth. 

It took him a moment to find his voice again, but when he did, he still only spoke in a low, quiet tone. “They’re hard to kill, they don’t bleed like we do. If I hadn’t been able to, I would have put myself between them and you and have done everything I could to keep them out of here and away from you.” He said with a soft grimace at the thought of even seeing one of the things in person again. 

“Would the siren have killed you?” Jinyoung asks in a small voice, not moving to look up again, but Jaebum knew him well enough to know that Jinyoung’s eyebrows are drawn together right now in concern. 

“Yeah, it probably would have. I don’t know of anyone that has survived a siren attack and lived long enough to tell the tale.” Jaebum hesitantly admitted, and this time, Jinyoung lifts his head up to simply just kiss Jaebum again, just a gentle press of their lips together, a soft promise of ‘I love you’ and ‘we’ll be okay, everything is alright at least for now’.

Jinyoung drifts off to sleep shortly after that, and it takes another couple minutes before Jaebum allows himself to fall asleep, the toll that encounter had taken on him enough to knock him out once he allows it to. 

They spend the next day with everyone cleaning the ship from the intruders, climbing aboard and making sure they account everyone for. Mostly everyone is okay, some are spooked like Jinyoung still is, this being their first time seeing any sirens too. 

Things do eventually calm down like they always do by that night, and Jaebum is thankful.

It couldn’t have been later than five in the morning when Jaebum is woke up three days later by Mark climbing up the ladder and quietly announcing that he needs Jaebum to come down and look at something he thinks he saw.

Jaebum doesn’t want to, but he untangles himself groggily from Jinyoung, who thankfully is dead asleep and doesn’t wake up enough to register him leaving to go out on the main deck. 

“I think I saw a boat, and you know what that means.” Mark says as soon as Jaebum steps off the ladder, and that sends a chill through Jaebum. He nods understandingly, moving to head outside. 

There indeed was a boat on the horizon, the morning light just barely enough for Jaebum to see a small ship on the water. It’s just a bit bigger than a rowboat, and it’s definitely heading their way. 

Quickly, he tells Mark to go get the crew awake and quiet and to lock the doorway into the sleeping quarters. Allow no one outside or to talk, otherwise they will throw that person to this creature.

Jinyoung is awake by the time Jaebum gets back up to the cabin, and as he climbs back into the cabin he can tell that Jinyoung can sense that something is wrong.

“We have to be quiet again.” He whispered as he dragged the chest on top of the hatch, not really too worried about the creatures being strong enough to break it open. They won’t unless they hear commotion up here, and Jaebum won’t let that happen.

“Is everything alright? What’s going on?” Jinyoung grumbled out, rubbing his eyes and trying his best to wake up fully as quick as he could. 

“We’re fine, there are just some Grekal getting close. They’re not anything to worry about as long as they don’t find anyone to mess with.” Jaebum explained, giving him a soft smile as he straightened back up and headed over to Jinyoung on their bed, slipping back under the covers with Jinyoung. 

“What are Grekal? They’re not sirens too, right?” Jinyoung asked worriedly, moving with Jaebum as he situated both of them back under the covers and wrapped Jinyoung back up in his arms. 

“No, they’re just assholes mostly.” Jaebum said with a soft laugh, his voice quieting down significantly. “They have the power to capsize a ship if they get too worked up, and it’s very easy to work them up, so rather than risk it we always hide away and just let them leave on their own.” 

Jinyoung made a noise in acknowledgement and relaxes into Jaebum, drawing a content hum out of Jaebum as he settles half on Jaebum’s chest. He’s still spooked by what happened a few days ago from what Jaebum can tell, so he lets Jinyoung have the peaceful silence before the creatures board the ship and cause a ruckus. 

Not a minute later, Jaebum picked up the sound of voices, and Jinyoung instantly tensed when he himself caught the sound. 

Smoothing his hand over Jinyoung’s hips, Jaebum shifted a bit, getting comfortable before whispering for Jinyoung to go back to sleep. Jinyoung grumbled under his breath for a few seconds, shifting against Jaebum to tuck his face into his neck, hiding there and draping himself fully over Jaebum as he throws a leg over his hip.

Voices echo through the ship and Jaebum listens close, the inhuman language and noise faintly reaching them through the wooden boards. It only took around five minutes before the voices faded and after another five Jaebum fully relaxed again.

Gradually, Jaebum moved out from under a sleeping Jinyoung, getting up and heading down the ladder to knock on the crew’s cabin door once he checks that everything is alright. He tells them that everyone has the afternoon off, to take it easy because of the two back-to-back creatures boarding their ship. All he requires is that they do their usual ship check before everyone settles in for the night, and the crew cheers at that. Jaebum smiles a tiny bit at them, earning a knowing smile from Youngjae and Mark. 

“How is he doing?” Youngjae asked softly, and Jaebum locked eyes with him, seeing his curious glint in his eyes.

“He’s okay, he went to sleep when we all hid, hopefully he’s still asleep.” Jaebum murmured, running a hand through his hair.

“Ah, I guess he’s never had to deal with something like this.” Youngjae said with a small nod, the idea seemingly just hitting him. 

“Mhm, I’m going to go back up and check on him.” Jaebum said, moving to head back towards their cabin. “Make sure everyone behaves for me until I come back, okay?” Jaebum said, earning a chuckle from Youngjae before they parted ways, Youngjae heading out onto the main decks and Jaebum making his way back up into the cabin. 

Jinyoung is still asleep when he gets back into bed with him, but as he’s settling back in and covering them back up Jinyoung stirs awake. 

“Is everything alright now?” Jinyoung asked in a tired voice, happily welcoming Jaebum back into his space and easily finding his spot back against Jaebum’s chest. Jaebum made a noise in conformation, wrapping one of his arms back around Jinyoung’s waist and the other coming up to run his fingers through his hair. That drew out a happy hum from Jinyoung, shifting more to drape himself back across Jaebum’s body like he’d been earlier.

“Are we going to just nap today? We can if that’s what you want.” Jaebum asked softly, his voice quieting down to just above a whisper. A soft ‘yeah’ echoed from Jinyoung and that drew a fond grin onto Jaebum’s lips, settling in himself for what will be awhile stuck under Jinyoung.

With every day that passes, Jinyoung seems to constantly learn something new, most of the time impressing Jaebum endlessly when he seems to always pick up new skills so easily.

He’s in love; really, truly deep in love with this man who he shouldn’t have ever met, but fell in love with in the blink of an eye. 

It’s nearing the one month mark when they finally dock in their next area, and Jaebum is considerably more wobbly on land this time than the last. He takes a few more minutes than usual to finally get his balance back, but Jinyoung seems to get back to his land-legs pretty quickly.

It’s almost nightfall, and they all head to the tavern, not much left for them to do today in this dwindling light, and mostly, it’ll keep everyone out of trouble.

The tavern wasn’t anything that Jaebum hasn’t seen before, so a few minutes into the night after everyone has settled down at a table together, he leaves for a moment to go get him and Jinyoung drinks.

He’s only gone for a few minutes before he hears Jinyoung’s voice, said man speaking loud enough for it to reach all the crew, surely. As he turns to look at what’s going on Jinyoung is already speaking again, and if Jaebum wasn’t sure if he heard correctly the first time (with him being in the middle of talking), he is now, because Jinyoung is repeating _‘I_ said _don’t touch me, leave me alone!’_ and Jaebum moves on instinct, leaving the bartender behind and carrying their drinks with him as he stalks back over the table, his attention zeroing in on the man that had _taken Jaebum’s seat_ beside Jinyoung and was fully facing him in that chair, looking like he was ready to try again to do whatever he’d been any second now.

Jaebum shifts both the mugs to one hand, gripping the handles tightly before using the free hand to yank the chair back towards him and away from Jinyoung, anger beginning to boil in his chest. The sound the chair makes against the wooden floor makes the entire tavern go quiet for a moment before whispered start up, but Jaebum can’t focus on anything else when the man was trying to fucking corner Jinyoung.

 _“Get the fuck up, you rat.”_ Jaebum hissed out, further drawing the man’s attention towards Jaebum instead of where it was trained on Jinyoung. Once he meets Jaebum’s eyes he can see the man finally recognize who he’s involving himself with, and his eyes darted back to the men around the table, everyone now glaring dangerously at the man, ready to back Jaebum in a fight if the man escalates this to that point.

Thankfully, moments later, the man lowered his eyes and swore under his breath before getting up and leaving this side of the tavern.

Jaebum stays exactly where he is until he can’t see the guy anymore, not quite ready to let it go, but with Jinyoung right here in the middle of a tavern that could turn into war grounds the moment a gun is fired, he forces himself to. Taking a deep breath, he pushes the chair back to where Jaebum had left it, but then choosing to inch it closer to Jinyoung when he sees the man’s fingers trembling the slightest bit in his lap. He sets the drinks down on the table before settling back into his spot, figuring he better get comfortable because he’s not leaving Jinyoung’s side again while they’re stuck at this port.

Jinyoung scoots closer, surprising Jaebum since they’ve never really... been outwardly affectionate anywhere except on the ship. But when Jinyoung leans against him, he doesn’t have to think before he’s draping that arm around Jinyoung’s shoulders, watching as Jinyoung slots himself into the space like he belongs there.

Jaebum takes another slow breath, letting the anger slowly bleed out from his body and reaches for his drink. The beer isn’t the best he’s had, it’s pretty bad actually, but he knows it’ll take this edge off of him, and that’s what Jaebum needs right now.

He can almost feel Jinyoung’s eyes following the cup the entire time from the table to his lips, and Jaebum surrenders it to Jinyoung’s hands after his second sip.

They only drink from that glass the entire time, ignoring the other one entirely and just taking turns drinking after each other.

The entire walk back to the inn they’re all staying in is quiet between him and Jinyoung, the rest of the boys having stayed behind for longer. When they get into their room, though, Jinyoung is immediately reaching for him, tangling a hand into Jaebum’s shirt and using that leverage to pull him closer, needily slotting their lips together.

It catches Jaebum off guard but he still has the brain to reach behind him and lock up the door before following Jinyoung deeper into the small room, it only taking a moment before the back of Jinyoung’s legs hit the mattress and they’re falling together and landing with Jaebum caging in Jinyoung with his hands on either side of his head.

“ _S_ _low down,_ ‘Nyong. What’s wrong?” Jaebum murmured as he pulled away from the kiss after Jinyoung’s hands began to hurriedly go to untying Jaebum’s pants.

It took Jinyoung a second to collect himself again enough to speak, but his hands never stop untying the drawstring holding up his pants. “I feel gross- I can feel his hands on me still, ‘Beom. I just want you to erase it.” Jinyoung explained the best he could and moments later his pants were being shoved off one of his hips and Jinyoung’s hands now zero in on getting Jaebum’s shirt.

That’s all it takes to get Jaebum to start fully responding, not having even _known_ the man had touched Jinyoung in the small time frame. “It’s okay. I’ll take care of it, baby.” Jaebum mumbled before stripping off his shirt as Jinyoung hiked it up to the top of his chest.

Their clothes come off with practiced ease, and this time when they fall back against each other Jaebum focuses his attention on kissing down Jinyoung’s neck, leaving hickeys that will bruise in no time, ones that will be dark by the morning all down his neck on his way as he travels further down. Jinyoung is trying to stifle his noises still like he has to if they’re on the ship, and Jaebum reaches up and wraps his hand around Jinyoung’s wrist, taking that hand away from his mouth and drawing out a now fully audible noise of surprise from Jinyoung.

“I really don’t care who hears us tonight, don’t worry about that and just focus on me. Be as loud as you want.” Jaebum reassured, kissing down his chest before ghosting his lips across Jinyoung’s nipple and seconds later Jinyoung is gasping and his body is arching against Jaebum’s touch as he finally wraps his lips around the bud.

He doesn’t stay there long, giving the other the same treatment before moving further down to his navel, kissing and nipping at his skin along the way. Once he gets past there, Jinyoung’s hands switch from where they’d kept a steady grip on his shoulders to tangle into his hair.

“I can’t fuck you tonight, we don’t have any slick.” Jaebum says before he fully moved down the bed and pressed a few kisses along Jinyoung’s hip. Jinyoung makes a noise in disappointment, and Jaebum is quick to speak up again. “I’ll get it from the ship tomorrow and we can go all the way then, but right now I’m not risking hurting you.” Jaebum said, finally moving his lips over, and Jinyoung immediately responds to his breath right above his cock.

He sends a testing look up and when Jinyoung feels him tilt his head that far he meets his eyes and nods, giving Jaebum the go ahead that he needed.

He gently urges Jinyoung to drape his legs over his shoulders and Jinyoung follows his direction with no questions or hesitation, letting Jaebum move him with ease.

Jaebum pops two of his own fingers into his mouth, working to get them fully coated with spit before removing them, huffing a soft laugh when he catches the way Jinyoung’s cock jumps against his stomach at the promise of being fucked by _something_ at least, even if it’s just two fingers. Jinyoung thankfully is relaxed enough to let the first finger glide right into him and he stops there for the moment, letting him warm up to the feeling before he’s ducking down, getting his mouth on Jinyoung’s cock for the first time.

Above him Jinyoung sharply intakes a breath, not having expected Jaebum to do something new, but when Jinyoung didn’t protest it Jaebum continued on.

He pressed a light kiss to the side of his cock just below the tip before he’s moving down, kissing, licking and sucking wherever he can. Jinyoung slowly warms up to it, and by the time Jaebum maneuvers his way back up to his tip, Jinyoung is rocking his hips back, wanting more. Jaebum finally began moving the single digit when he took the tip into his mouth, and it seemed like Jinyoung’s reservations weaken as Jaebum went farther down easily, the finger curling up into a spot that Jaebum has memorized by now.

Jinyoung let out a choked sound, his hips jerking the moment Jaebum’s finger pressed there and squirming a bit. It was useless, because if he pressed forward to get away from the pressure on his prostate he’d just be going deeper into Jaebum’s mouth, and if he tried to get away from his mouth, he’d push back onto the finger. He doesn’t seem to complain, though, and when Jaebum reaches the base of his cock, the tip brushing against the back of his throat, he looks up. He had to blink a few times, but he meets Jinyoung’s eyes from where he is, holding his stare for the moment being.

Then, Jaebum slips in the second finger without warning and curls them both together, harshly pressing down at the same time that he swallows around Jinyoung’s cock.

This time, Jinyoung screams.

Jaebum can taste his pre-cum in his mouth, satisfied to know that he’s not as bad at head as he expected since it’s been a few years. He swallows again, pulling back a bit to go down on him, hollowing his cheeks out and he swears he doesn’t think Jinyoung can get louder than this when he lets out a choked out whine, gripping the sheets under him with one hand and hesitantly threading this fingers through Jaebum’s hair to ground himself.

Jaebum repeats the act of pressing hard a few more times in between fucking his fingers into Jinyoung, each time making Jinyoung more and more of a mess. Only a few minutes later he can feel tremors raking through Jinyoung’s abdomen and thighs, getting impossibly tight around his fingers, and both are tell-tale signs that Jinyoung is getting close.

He only then finally reaches down his free hand, wrapping his fingers around his own cock and moaning against Jinyoung’s where he’s bottomed out again. That seemed to do the trick though, the vibrations of Jaebum’s voice proving to be too much and then Jinyoung is rambling above him incoherent sentences, most not making sense but Jaebum can hear his name every other second. It only takes one more harsh press of the pads of his fingers to get Jinyoung spilling into his mouth, well, more in his throat since Jinyoung’s hand is tight in his hair and firmly keeping him there, yelling out Jaebum’s name and that alone makes Jaebum cum into his hand, letting out a loud moan against him as he worked quickly to swallow down the cum and not choke.

After they both calmed down a bit Jinyoung’s hand slipped from his hair and Jaebum pulled off of his softening cock and removed his fingers, wiping his dirty hands off on an edge of the bed they wouldn’t be sleeping before draping himself halfway over Jinyoung. He heard the other man hum contently, and that warmed up his chest, tangling their legs together and tucking his face against Jinyoung’s neck.

“Did I go too far?” Jaebum asked, making sure he didn’t push too much, and that Jinyoung was okay.

Jinyoung shook his head with a soft, amused huff, wrapping himself around Jaebum like he usually does. “I would have stopped you if you did.” He reassured, and that was enough to calm him down fully, ready to sleep now, and he could tell Jinyoung was too.

Jaebum falls asleep to the pattern of Jinyoung’s breathing, the warmth in his chest never fading.

Jaebum woke up to something moving against his body and he groaned in irritation, his body’s internal clock not having gone off yet and pretty annoyed with whatever was happening.

He tightens his arms around Jinyoung’s middle, hearing the other make some sound, and then a hand is lightly hitting his shoulder, waking him up fully.

“ _Jaebum,_ someone’s at the door.” Jinyoung’s voice broke through the silence, and that finally woke him up fully.

He let out a dramatic groan, rolling them over clumsily before pushing himself up and moving to get out of the bed. He stumbled a bit as he stood, the chilly night air biting at him since he’s still naked. Another knock sounded from the door and Jaebum hesitated, deciding against opening it right away. “Who is it?” Jaebum called out, his voice scratchy and rough from sleep.

“It’s Yien, me and Youngjae are going back to the boat for the rest of the night to check on everyone there. Just wanted to let you know.” Mark said, and Jaebum huffed softly, closing his eyes and running a hand over his face groggily.

“Okay, see you in the morning.” Jaebum grumbled out, already turning to walk back to the bed.

To be fair, it was the right thing to do, and Jaebum would have freaked out if he couldn’t find either of them in the morning.

Jinyoung was still where he left him, the blankets held open now for Jaebum to climb back in easily. Jaebum did just that, climbing over him before settling back into his spot before he’s wrapping his arms back around Jinyoung, grumbling under his breath about _‘why is Mark so awake ugh’_ and making Jinyoung laugh. The sound bounced off the walls of the quiet room and Jaebum’s lips pulled up at the edges, unable to not smile at Jinyoung’s laugh when he sounded so calm and carefree.

“Go back to sleep, we have work to do tomorrow.” Jaebum murmured, moving to press a light kiss to Jinyoung temple when the other man settled back against him, tangling their legs together naturally.

“Today, actually.” Jinyoung commented lightly, making Jaebum just roll his eyes. “Night Jaebum.”

It only took a few seconds of both of them being still before the silence comes back and Jaebum is out like a light.

This time when Jaebum woke up it was on his own terms. His internal clock woke him up, used to getting up just after sunrise to work on the ship.

Jaebum drew in a deep breath, shifting a bit as he slowly began waking up, and when he began moving, Jinyoung seemed to wake up too.

The entirety of Jinyoung’s body is draped over Jaebum, Jinyoung barely touching the bed and in the end using Jaebum to sleep on instead of the much more soft bed compared to the one back on the ship. He’s not complaining, but it _is_ amusing.

“Is it morning..?” Jinyoung murmured quietly, just barely above a whisper and Jaebum gave off a confirmation hum, not opening his eyes yet and just enjoying the peace right now; no one able to see or hear them, no one potentially interrupting them, no fuss going on that Jaebum has to worry about.

“You sleep well?” Jaebum asked softly, breaking the comfortable silence they’d been blanketed in. Jinyoung nods a tiny bit, enough for Jaebum to feel it, and Jaebum began smoothing his hand over Jinyoung’s back idly, alternating from just exploring around to drawing out things there.

“Jaebum..?” Jinyoung’s voice came out, and Jaebum just hummed softly in response, urging him to continue. “I’m in love with you.” Jinyoung whispered against his shoulder and Jaebum immediately tensed up, waiting for a moment to fully process that before he said anything, making sure that he would not say something that could be misinterpreted or that it would come out wrong.

“You are..?” He asked softly, moving his free arm to gently urge Jinyoung’s face out of his shoulder so he could look him in the eye right now. He needed to. This wasn’t a light topic right now. When Jinyoung gave him a nervous smile and nodded a bit, Jaebum practically melted. “God, I was in love with you a week into trying this.” Jaebum admits easily, completely surprising Jinyoung. Gently, Jaebum guided Jinyoung’s lips down to his with no resistance, slotting them together and keeping the kiss gentle and slow, not rushing or deepening the kiss and just pouring the affection and love he had for Jinyoung into it, and in return he got the same thing back. “I love you.” Jaebum stated against his lips before Jinyoung licked into his mouth, his tongue meeting Jaebum’s between every breath and kiss.

If you would have told Jaebum back when he first met Jinyoung, not wanting him to join them at all, that he’d fall in love with this man, Jaebum would have laughed in your face.

But now, he knows that Jinyoung has taken a vice grip on his heart, and when Jinyoung has to leave him, he will take Jaebum’s heart with him.

When they leave that morning, Jaebum immediately is on edge.

Everyone inside the front of the inn stares at them as they leave without reason, and even if Jinyoung is oblivious, Jaebum knows better than to just shrug off things like this, especially with what happened last night. Jaebum practically made his claim on Jinyoung, and everyone got to see that and knows now that there’s someone they could use to get Jaebum to bend to their will.

They leave the inn and Jaebum tries his best to not be visibly affected, but people’s eyes are still on them outside in the town as they’re delivering the cargo, and every time Jaebum notices it makes his skin crawl.

A few minutes into their outing Jaebum distances himself, not being as affectionate as he usually is on their ship and treating Jinyoung more like he’d treat Mark; someone that’s close to him, but not necessarily his lover. The curious or suspicious eyes never leave them, but at least this doesn’t give them any more fuel for an attack against Jaebum and/or his crew.

Once they finish up with their work for the day, they end up back at the docks.

Jaebum quickly found Mark through the men, pulling him aside for a moment to talk to him. 

“Is this about Jinyoung again?” Mark asked, and Jaebum tentatively nodded. 

“Everyone was watching both me and him today after I chased that guy away in the tavern.” He said softly, and an already knowing look crossed over Mark’s features. “I don’t… I don’t want to risk them trying to steal him away from us while we’re here. We’re done with the job so we can go, right?” Jaebum asked, needing Mark’s opinion right now, his brain fried from the stress of worrying about Jinyoung’s safety all day and becoming more and more paranoid as the day went on.

“I get why you’re doing it, don’t worry. I don’t understand why you’re risking yourself for him, but I trust you enough to not question you on this.” Mark said honestly, giving Jaebum a soft smile.

“Thank you.” Jaebum breathed, running a hand through his hair as a sigh escaped him.

They settle everything in a matter of minutes, their exact route to be decided in the morning. 

Mark stayed with the men on the boat again tonight. Meanwhile, Jaebum and Jinyoung are staying the last night in their inn room away from everyone. 

Once they get inside for the night after parting ways with the men and Jaebum shuts their door, Jinyoung’s carefree expression changes. 

“What happened? We were supposed to stay a few more days, right?” Jinyoung questioned, going to strip off his top to sleep tonight.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about, I promise.” Jaebum mumbled, walking over to Jinyoung, but Jinyoung shies away from his hand when Jaebum reaches out to touch his shoulder. It shouldn’t hurt as much as it does, but it sends a sharp pain through his chest. Jaebum immediately withdraws his hand back to his body, his eyes widening. Since they’ve been together, they’ve always been on the same page. It has always been easy to communicate, so now he’s utterly lost. 

“If you’re not going to talk to me, then I’m just going to go to sleep.” Jinyoung sighed, running a hand through his hair and turning his back to Jaebum, the coldness in his voice echoing through the room. 

And it hurt. 

It hurt so bad, and he’s never been affected like this before. 

“No- wait Jinyoung… What do you want to know..?” Jaebum caved in seconds, trailing after Jinyoung but not trying to touch him again, knowing better than that. “I’ll tell you, just… don’t be upset with me.” Jaebum whispered, slipping off his own shirt and heading ahead of the other, slipping onto the bed and peeling back the blankets. Luckily, Jinyoung seemed to take that and slipped into bed, letting Jaebum cover them up, and after a moment Jinyoung huffed, moving first and scooting over to Jaebum. 

“Does this have anything to do with why you were so fucking _cold_ today?” Jinyoung asked and Jaebum winced a bit, knowing he was in the wrong for becoming suddenly cold today. He should have warned Jinyoung, or at least talked to him about last night today. Jaebum nods, and Jinyoung huffs again. “Have people realized I’m close to you? Is that what this is about?” Jinyoung continues on, and Jaebum has to give it to him, Jinyoung is incredibly smart, and today he isn’t lacking any brain cells.

“Yeah, that’s why we have to leave.” Jaebum admits softly, feeling Jinyoung’s hands come to rest on his chest and slowly he moved his own, just barely touching Jinyoung’s hips, testing the waters. When Jinyoung shifts even closer though, now fully touching Jaebum, he takes that as a green light to wrap Jinyoung up in his arms and it thankfully doesn’t backfire like the touch earlier had. “I’m not going to stick around and drag you into something you shouldn’t be caught in.”

“I can handle myself, Jaebum.” Jinyoung protested, still sounding frustrated, but not nearly as bad as a minute ago when they were both standing now that he’s gotten some answers.

“I know you probably could, Jinyoung, but we’re not talking about one or two guys right now. There could be a few crews of twenty men interested in you tomorrow, and even if you think you could handle it, I’m not even sure that me and my men could fight off three ships worth of people.” Jaebum lets out, reaching up and raking one of his hands through Jinyoung’s hair a few times before it returned to his waist. “I love you, and I will keep you safe no matter what it takes.” Jaebum finished, hearing Jinyoung let out a soft sigh and the younger tucks his face into Jaebum’s neck, finally fully relaxing against him, both of them on their sides still. 

“That’s stupid.” Jinyoung commented quietly, and that made Jaebum startle enough to let out a puff of a laugh. 

“Go to sleep ‘Nyong, we’ll sort everything out in the morning and then it’ll all be back to normal tomorrow night. Just you, me, and an entire night for me to prove that I love you.” Jaebum murmured, feeling more than he heard Jinyoung softly laugh at that, and at least now he isn’t mad and Jaebum has his lover back. Jaebum swooped down for a moment to press a kiss into Jinyoung’s hair, and Jinyoung let out a content hum in response. 

Tomorrow, Jaebum was in for one hell of a stressful day, but if that ensured he got Jinyoung away from the nasty pirates that want to steal Jinyoung away from him, he’d do it ten times over and over.

The next morning comes easily to them, and everything goes smoothly mostly. They’re all up early and all the work to leave as quickly as possible is knocked out within the hour with everyone focused and helping. 

Jaebum is about to board the ship, he’s the last one that hasn’t gotten on because he’s untying the ropes connecting them to the dock and carrying them on board, but then there’s a hand on his shoulder.

Jaebum spins abruptly, his eyes narrowing accusedly at the man in front of him, another captain that Jaebum faintly recognizes from passings but has never spoken to. 

“You sure made a scene back there, Im.” He commented and Jaebum instantly feels his shoulders squaring, not wanting to deal with this when they’re so close to getting away unscathed, Jaebum just needs to get on the damn ship.

“Fuck off, ‘m not in the mood.” Jaebum grumbled, glaring at the man and making a move to go past him but he’s suddenly catching his wrist, their positions switched now and Jaebum’s facing the dock while the other now has his back to it.

In that second the man’s expression changed, and that genuinely made Jaebum pause, not expecting to see any real emotion from him after that rude comment.

“They’re already scheming and debating if your boy is worth the risk, be careful Im.” He said and Jaebum out pick out the honesty in his tone now, having to blink a few times to recover from the shock and take the information in. “I’ll cover for you as long as I can this morning, be careful getting out of here.” He quickly adds and that shocks Jaebum even further, but he’s not going to protest to someone genuinely helps him when he needs it and making good connections.

“Fuck, thank you. I owe you for this the next time we meet.” Jaebum said, but the man just shook his head with a soft, knowing smile.

“You love him, right?” _A small nod from Jaebum._ “Keep him safe, men like him that aren’t born for the water are easily taken away.” He says, and Jaebum caught a small hint of nostalgia in his tone, but quickly brushed it off. 

“He’s going home now, I can’t keep him much longer so we’ll be okay.” Jaebum breathed, and the man gave him a knowing smile. Like he knows the struggle Jaebum is going through all too well. 

He quickly bids a farewell to Jaebum as people start to come to the docks, just fishermen, but there’s still a risk lying there nevertheless with every second more Jaebum is here. 

Still a bit stunned by the interaction, Jaebum somehow tugs the ropes up on board and pulls the plank connecting them to the docks up, completely freeing them away, ready to set sail.

The first night back on the water, Jaebum slips into bed where Jinyoung’s waiting, already under the blanket.

“‘Beom?” He whispered, letting Jaebum get settled in before moving closer, resting against his chest now that Jaebum is lying on his back. Jaebum let out a soft hum, wrapping his arms around Jinyoung’s waist as they both got comfortable against each other, shifting a bit before stilling again. “What would happen if they get to us?” Jinyoung asks at the same time one of Jaebum’s hands come up to run through Jinyoung’s hair.

Jaebum wants to lie, he wants to keep Jinyoung away from the harsh truth and not tell him what the reality is, but he can’t do that to Jinyoung right now. If anything _does_ happen, he needs Jinyoung to be aware of the stakes at play, and be ready to escape if needed.

“I’ll be killed most likely as a trophy of sorts, but you…” He trailed off, not knowing how to deliver this, and just deciding to go for it after a moment. “It’ll depend how bad it gets for you by who would get to us, _but_ they’ll have to get through the entire crew, Youngjae, Yien and me to even catch sight of you on board.” Jaebum reassured quickly, not wanting Jinyoung to be worried or paranoid about it, because he didn’t need to be. For Jaebum it was natural to have his brain going a hundred miles per hour with thoughts swirling together, for him to prepare for the worst, but he doesn’t want Jinyoung to have to unless he has no other choice. “We’ll be okay, and if someone catches our trail, I have my ways to discourage them.” Jaebum added, and that seems to sate Jinyoung for tonight, the other’s face tucking against his shoulder. 

Jaebum falls asleep with Jinyoung half lying on top of him, worried, but content enough to feel okay with Jinyoung beside him in all of this.

Everything goes smoothly from then on, the days glazing by easily starting and ending with him beside Jinyoung.

That is, until they reach the first hot spot.

  
  


In the middle of the night Jaebum wakes up to faint screaming, just barely audible through the thrashing winds and rain of the storm.

He knows what it most likely is, why he can hear the screaming slowly beginning to fade out and become more garbled. Thankfully, it seems to disappear into the sounds of the storm, and JB lets out a breath, not realizing he’d been clinging to Jinyoung and holding him tightly to his chest.

That could have been Jinyoung, if Jaebum hadn’t saved him.

_It’s safe to say that Jaebum doesn’t sleep much that night._

The moment Jaebum steps out on deck he can sense something wrong, and when they count everyone, a man, one of the heavy lifters of the crew, is missing.

Jaebum swallows and instructs everyone to throw the seaweed and other residue from the storm off the ship and clean up.

He’s torn up about it for the next few days, eyes half hazed and never really all the way there until Jinyoung finally breaks through to him on the fourth day, coming up to him holding a crab, one of the men must have found on ship somewhere left from the storm, out to him like it was treasure.

Jaebum smiles genuinely for the first time in days and the weight is lightened, even if just slightly.

Not much has changed on the boat dynamic wise since before Jinyoung joined them, all that was different now is that Jinyoung’s presence is always around during the day being more likely lingering nearby Jaebum. The crew completely ignores the two by now, it becomes regular to see them share a brief kiss before Jaebum goes off to do something that no one bats an eyelash at it.

“You’ve gotten more freckles, you know.” Jaebum murmurs from where his head is resting in a shirtless Jinyoung’s lap as he reads one of the couple books Jaebum has on ship to him on and off.

“Have I..?” Jinyoung asked, looking down at his arms, seemingly not having realized the change since it was so gradual over the months Jinyoung has been exposed to the harsh sunlight. Jaebum hums in conformation, one of his hands lazily reaching up to bring Jinyoung’s face closer to his, eyes looking over the space there with a fond smile pulling at his lips. 

“Haven’t gotten much tanner, but the freckles are definitely there.” Jaebum comments, both of their voices quiet in the cabin, night having already swallowed up any voices and the only background sound was the waves lapping at the ship’s hull. His thumb gently moves to brush against the skin right under his eye where the freckles littered across his face were more concentrated. “It looks good on you though. I love it.”

“You love _me_ in general.” Jinyoung retorts, and a wider, more toothy grin pulls Jaebum’s lips further, muttering a _‘good argument’_ under his breath before he’s bringing Jinyoung down to steal a kiss before he begins reading again.

In the two months it takes to trek across the sea, no one shows up that’s a threat. Sure, they’ve seen smaller, non-threatening fishing boats once or twice when they came close to a group of islands, but never once did any other pirates appear on the horizon.

It’s only a few days now from land, and Jaebum finds himself outside again tonight with Jinyoung, completely alone.

Jinyoung murmured something under his breath as he leaned against the railing, staring down at the sea below them. Jaebum watched as in a matter of seconds waves rise and one reaches up to meet Jinyoung’s extended hand. 

He’s beautiful under the moonlight, the freckles on his face mostly disappearing unless the moon hits the water’s reflection just right to light them up for a split second. Jaebum leaned his back against the railing, completely relaxed and at ease as he watched Jinyoung, not even a foot away, carry on whispering soft words to the sea below them, and she seems ecstatic to see Jinyoung again tonight, to talk to him again since they had ported last.

“Is this really the last time we’ll have together like this?” Jinyoung asked out of the blue, his voice still so quiet that it doesn’t startle Jaebum as it breaks him out of his thoughts. When he looks over Jinyoung isn’t looking at him, his attention still on her as she reaches up to him playfully, the water droplets left on his hand dancing around like excited mice as they explore his exposed wrist and arm, moving until they run out of sustenance to continue going.

“I think so.” Jaebum said even though as he said those words out loud a pain shot through his chest, the reality of the situation finally not being able to be ignored and looked over anymore. “I won’t whisk you away like a princess, you have people at home who love you and you love them. They need you more than I do, they’re your family.” Jaebum reasons, and Jinyoung finally drags his eyes up to meet Jaebum’s, emotion swirling and coming in waves. 

“I know, I just wish we could just disappear together.” Jinyoung admitted, and a small, fond smile pulls on the edges of Jaebum’s lips.

“I do too.” Jaebum agreed, finally moving and coming close enough to wrap his arms around Jinyoung’s waist, his chin resting on the other’s shoulder as he watched the rest of the time they spent outside tonight Jinyoung talk and interact with the sea.

Jinyoung might not be made for being a pirate, but he is made for Jaebum, a pirate captain, to love.

In the last days until they port Jinyoung plays around with the crew more, getting to fully know everyone on board, and eventually they suck Jinyoung into letting them teach him how to wield a knife and a full sword. 

Jaebum watches the entire time fondly, a spark of adoration shooting through his chest when he sees how _easy_ it is for Jinyoung to pick up these skills, and how fast his muscle memory is.

The day they’re docking at the port is quiet, everyone sharing the same mood.

Jaebum gets up as usual, his body moving like clockwork as he throws on a new shirt and unlocks the hatch before climbing down to begin the morning routine. When he turns to head for the door though his eyes lock with Mark’s, who was seemingly waiting for him this morning. 

“Go back up, Jae. I’ll cover your jobs today, spend this with him.” Mark said, a small, knowing smile pulling at his lips. 

Jaebum is stunned for a moment, but he can’t find it in himself to power through and insist that he’s able to do his duties today like he usually can. He swallows, just settling and nodding a few times, averting his eyes as he took a step back towards the ladder before fully turning back to climb back up.

Jinyoung was already awake once he got back up into the cabin, he just hadn’t moved from his spot on the bed but once Jaebum climbed back into bed Jinyoung moved to him, shifting for a minute before settling on top of Jaebum again and clung back to him again. 

Before he can register it starting his shirt feels wet and after a few more moments he finally registered that Jinyoung is crying.

“Hey, don’t go crying on me, you’re going to make me cry. You’re looking at this the wrong way. Sure, you have to go back now, but loving you is the best thing I’ve ever done. Don’t- Don’t cry, please.” Jaebum pleads, wrapping his arms around Jinyoung’s middle and holding him tight. That seems to do the trick because after a minute or so JY’s breathing steadies out again. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever love someone the same way I love you.” Jinyoung whispers once he’s stable again, and a small, fond smile pulled at his lips. Jaebum muttered out a small ‘good’ before tilting his face up, giving him a soft grin before pressing a loving kiss to his lips.

Jaebum heads out of the cabin two times that day, only to go grab them some food from the makeshift dining room.

They stay in bed all day, just basking in the feeling of being with each other, both of them just completely content in being with each other, staying touching in one way or another. It’s a bittersweet feeling, but Jaebum focused on how right this felt to love Jinyoung and be with him. 

“The sea will miss you.” Jaebum murmured, nosing along Jinyoung’s jaw, peppering soft kisses here and there.

“You think so?” Jinyoung asked quietly, and Jaebum hummed confidently in agreement. 

“She loves you, not as much as me of course, but she will notice you’re gone.” Jaebum said, trailing his light kisses over Jinyoung’s cheek and eventually getting back to Jinyoung’s lips, pressing a soft kiss there before he’s blowing a raspberry against Jinyoung’s neck, making the other squeal in surprise and try to push him away.

When they get to the docks and Jaebum registered the boat being tied off they’re both quiet, neither one of them wanting to leave the safety of the cabin, the room that’s become both of their homes for months now and shielded them away from prying eyes. Jinyoung’s father probably has already gotten the news of Jaebum’s ship on the horizon, at least that’s what Jaebum tells himself, not knowing if they could honestly identify his ship from that far away, but it’s the only thing that motivates him to sit up, bringing Jinyoung with him. Jaebum willed Jinyoung to get up quietly, climbing down the ladder first before Jinyoung followed. 

He wrapped a hand around Jinyoung’s wrist before he could touch the door leading to the outside deck, gently pulling him back towards himself, letting him be selfish for just this moment. Jaebum slowly and carefully reached up to his own neck, feeling around before finding the buckle and taking off one of his favorite chain necklaces. Jinyoung watched him the entire time with a soft, loving smile that made Jaebum’s heart ache as he moved to place and secure it around Jinyoung’s instead, his hand trailing across it before dropping to his side again.

“Once we go out there we can’t do anything, everyone here will watch us.” Jaebum said, his voice quiet and soft but Jinyoung thankfully understands then why he’d stopped him, moving to drape his arms around Jaebum’s shoulders, and before he knows it Jinyoung is leaning in to kiss Jaebum again.

It’s bittersweet how Jaebum knows exactly how Jinyoung likes to be held in moments like these. He knows exactly how Jinyoung likes to kiss, and they quickly fall into habits. Jinyoung takes everything Jaebum will give him right now, licking into Jaebum’s mouth, who just holds him tightly against himself in turn, knowing too well that fuck, this might be the last time he ever sees Jinyoung, much less gets to hold him. Jinyoung’s hands tread into his hair seconds later, both of them working to try to memorize this feeling they share, to immortalize what they have right now before they have to give it up in the end.

Jaebum is the one that finally pulls back after a few minutes, stealing a few more small kisses before he finally separated himself from Jinyoung, who seems to accept the situation like Jaebum does, even if he’s clearly unhappy right now.

When he opens the door, he can immediately hear the men’s voices from the dock, making the entire situation real, and it settles into his bones as he leads Jinyoung off the boat. 

Jaebum walks him home, both of them walking side by side, just mere inches apart, but it feels so wrong now not to walk around like this without holding Jinyoung’s hand or draping his arm over his shoulders to keep him close. It’s too short for Jaebum. It ends too quickly when they get to Jinyoung’s home minutes later. He’s not ready to give Jinyoung back yet.

Jinyoung turns back to him, visibly trying to keep himself outwardly calm. “Will you come back for me?” Jinyoung asked quietly, and Jaebum felt his pulse quicken up, a strong pull tugging on his heart. 

“Maybe one day we’ll have a silver lining, and I’ll be back for you if that happens.” Jaebum promises, at the same time he moved his hand from his pocket, holding what he had in his hand out but Jinyoung just gives him a soft, fond smile before shaking his head. 

“I have everything I want to remember you by. You need not give me anymore.” Jinyoung mumbled and Jaebum paused, looking at him and going quiet for a moment before nodding, taking in how gorgeous he is and how lucky whoever gets his hand in marriage will be.

Jaebum spots movement coming from inside the house, and the moment he sees the door crack open his attention shoots back to Jinyoung, knowing that he can’t stick around much longer.

“I love you, ‘Nyong. Stay safe for me.” Jaebum murmured, giving Jinyoung a soft smile and earning one in return, and when Jinyoung whispered that he loves him too, Jaebum finally found the courage in himself to finally turn and give Jinyoung one last long look before he wills himself to walk away only when he caught sight of Jinyoung’s father heading towards them.

It nearly kills Jaebum to just walk away, but he manages to get back to the docks in one piece, but the moment he steps foot onto his ship he mentally breaks down.

He’s not fully there, his eyes are hazy and unfocused, and it takes Mark more than a few tries to get his attention. He doesn’t speak, just shrugs at everything, trying not to look weak in front of the entire crew, when what he really wanted to do was go back to Jinyoung’s house and ask him for one last kiss, just one more. 

Jaebum goes up to their- _his_ cabin that night, pushing open the closed hatch and climbing into the room. He has to pause for a second to take in how empty the room feels, his chest beginning to physically hurt when he realizes this is what it will be like from now on, he will be the only one in here again. Whereas before he didn’t mind, it was nice to get away from the noise and have some alone time, but now… it’s worse than if he just would have turned around and slept with everyone else tonight. 

Everything is still how they left it earlier, traces of Jinyoung everywhere now from how his clothes are folded on his desk to the book sitting next to the bed, the leather bookmark still poking out of it just past the halfway point. 

_Jaebum never got to hear the end of the story._

He feels numb to everything, like a zombie just going through the motions as he walks towards the bed, sitting down on the side of the bed before sighing and shuffling into bed. 

It feels wrong; the bed feels too big and cold now, but he never reaches for the blanket at the bottom of the bed.

Mark broke through to him the next day around noon, managing to drag him off the boat and heading to the market square to keep Jaebum’s mind occupied and at the moment.

He’s basically a walking zombie right now, he can’t function properly and after an hour of trying, Mark gives in and lets Jaebum have his peace, both of them walking around together in comfortable silence.

They go to get fresh fruit and that keeps Jaebum in the present, his head finally grounding from the clouds for the moment being. The older women Jaebum has seen countless times before recognize him and he entertains them for a while, trying to keep his facade up, trying to appear normal as possible for them to not worry over him. 

It doesn’t take long until they’re making their way back to the docks, Jaebum feeling the sparks of excitement to see how the other men would react to having fruit, something that they never had the luxury of eating except rare times on land when they stayed over one night. 

The walk is quiet mostly, taking a course of side streets in order to not be seen too much here in case there is anyone willing to backstab them and tell the other pirates where they are. 

He has to squint to see, his vision not what it used to be, but he immediately stopped in his spot. The man that Jaebum had nearly yelled at for harassing Jinyoung was talking to some local fisherman, who looked to be in the middle of drawing up a net they had cast into the water from the docks. 

No.

_No no no._

“Run.” He breathed, dropping the bag and taking hesitant steps backwards before breaking out into a full sprint going back the way they came. 

Mark was only a step behind him for a moment before falling into place beside him, both of them cutting corners and scrambling to not fall in their panic. Suddenly Mark yanked him to the side, into a shop that he quickly realized was one of the fortune tellers of the land. A friend of sorts, each of them knew how the world works in its own ways, one on sea and one on land.

The man- Taehyun, jumped when they barged through the door and slammed it shut, locking it as quick as Jaebum’s hands could. He’s already moving to take them down to the basement of the shop and both men follow like deer trying to outrun something on ice.

“They found you, I’m guessing.” He states, closing the door to the basement before approaching them, inspecting how much more panicked Jaebum looks, even though Mark was pretty shaken up as well. 

“I need you to shut me up, make so so I can’t talk because they’re after me and the man I love and-” 

“Okay, I can save you right now, but it’s not a very pleasant-”

“Anything, do anything to me.” Jaebum interrupted, his hands nervously and frantically running through his hair. “You don’t have to do this with me, you can still get away.” He said, turning to Mark as the other man went to grab the things he needed for whatever he would do.

“Oh fuck off, if you’re doing it then I’m doing it too, you should know better.” Mark fussed, and Jaebum didn’t have time to protest because Taehyun is walking towards them again with what looked like a bowl of clay in his hands.

“Hold out your hands. This is all I have to render you useless to them.” He said, and Jaebum put all his trust into the man he’s met once or twice, knowing what he’s capable of, and praying that this will work. Taehyun rubbed that clay like paste all over their hands and moved closer to place two stripes on either side of their necks. 

Jaebum is about to ask what this is supposed to do before he’s abruptly jarred by a fiery pain shooting through his hand, cramping them up and suddenly, he can’t feel them anymore.

When he looks to Mark, he’s in the same situation.

_What magic has he gotten himself into?_

“You’ll be frozen as a statue. You won’t die unless someone manages to break you, which is very unlikely because you have my magic helping no matter what. Your soul mates will wake you up, however long that takes.” He explained, quickly wiping his own hand off, ridding himself from the clay.

It spreads quickly, he realizes as when he tries to move his arms, his elbows are cracking and his entire neck and chin are frozen.

“Wait! Take my pist-‘’ He begins to say before it seals his mouth shut and most of his body stills, fully cemented into its place, frozen.

Slowly, his breathing gives out and Jaebum braces himself for suffocation. Moments later though, he comes back to his senses and realizes he’s not dying, but his vision is blackening. He can still hear, even though it garbled like he’s underwater. He wants to check on Mark, to make sure he’s okay, but he can’t fucking move anything, he can’t even blink or breathe, much less turn his head.

Taehyun quickly goes somewhere before coming back seconds later, and from the sound and what left he can feel, he must have covered them with a sheet or blanket.

His heartbeat slows, and he only has a few seconds left before he’s drifting in and out of consciousness.

The last thing he hears is the door to the basement, bursting open and loud voices filling the large, open room.

_I hope this is worth it,_ he thinks hazily; _Jinyoung has to survive,_ before everything stills, and Jaebum goes fully under.

xxx

In the streets, all that was left of Captain IM and Yien, his right-hand man, was a torn brown paper bag, the peaches and apples spilled into the streets of Valphate.

Old, worn boots stop at the edge of the bag, looking down to see the coins hidden away inside.

Youngjae crouches down, knowing all too well that they’re on their own now, and he gathers up all the things. He saw the chase start, and he needed to get their crew out of here before they became targets too. 

Everyone eats the fruit in silence that night in the dining area of the ship, knowing that if the two made it out alive, they would have been back hours ago. 

“Okay, we’re setting sail first thing in the morning, as soon as the sunrise begins.” Youngjae spoke up, his usual soft voice booming across the room.

The sea notices the absence of two lovers that once greeted her on long nights. 

Legend passed by that The Nora had no trouble at sea. 

They pass stories down from generation to generation of the captain who fell in love with a noble and paid the price with his life to protect his lover. 

  
  


**_Plump lips smile bitterly, but never stop the storyteller._ **

**Author's Note:**

> I,,, don't know what to say abt this one lol, it's going to be weird not working on it here and there little by little now that it's done.  
> in my opinion this just kind of blew up in my brain and became a ton more than i wanted to write and was PREPARED to write, but fuck I love these two babies sm 
> 
> feedback is always appreciated!!! thank you to everyone who left encouraging comments on the first part and encouraged this one!!! this only got finished because you guys kept finding the first one and being so nice!!!
> 
> well,,, until next time I guess <3
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/softency)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/softency)


End file.
